i like orange
in sunsets,
in fruit.
but orange is so quickly ruined for me
when i see it in plastic cylinders
with their white labels
with their warnings
drowsiness
weight gain
weight loss.
they promise fixes to my pain
but they lie.
the pills are empty.
they don't help.
but what if the next bottle does?
the doctor asks.
and so the label changes.
so do the warnings.
but that orange plastic
it stays.
and the promises
aren't kept.
i am tired
of pain
of empty promises about fixes
of warnings
of labels.
but mostly
i am tired
of the orange plastic cylinders.
YOU ARE READING
the color orange, and other things twisted by chronic illness
Poetryone person's reflection on living with fibromyalgia