Side Effect

Craig Kirchner: Side Effect

Side effect

by Craig Kirchner

It’s 4 ^A.M., there won’t be any sleep,

out of Ambien, no deal with the Devil,

just the same game of solitaire,

the same run-on sentence,

the same movie starring me

watching reruns of cable news,

and hundreds of different drug commercials.

Prevagen for the brain. Balance of Nature,

Rinvoq, Dupixent, Humira, Xeljanz,

and of course, Cialis and Viagra.

My favorite though is Skyrizi,

the way it slides off the tongue,

someone stayed up all night, could have

been me, thinking of these names.

I realize how similar the messages,

digesting the news of the day, the wars,

the latest fascist exploits of masked thugs

beating up, deporting, disappearing

some of the best among us,

and the possible side effects of the drugs,

whose advertising keeps the coverage going.

Both can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea,

dehydration and heart palpitations,

risk of death or stroke in certain populations.

If your hard-on lasts more than four hours

or if you experience any of these, call your doctor.

Do not watch or take this if you are allergic,

best, would be turn off the tube.

Craig Kirchner is retired and living in Jacksonville, FL, because that’s where his granddaughters are. He loves the aesthetics of writing, has a book of poetry, Roomful of Navels, and has been nominated three times for a Pushcart. Craig's writing has been published in Chiron Review, Main Street Rag, The Wise Owl, Yellow Mama, About Place Journal, and dozens of others. He houses 500 books in his office and about 400 poems on a laptop; these words help keep him straight. More about Craig can be found on Bluesky, and there is an interview up at Spillwords.

KJ Hannah Greenberg is eclectic. She’s played oboe, participated in martial arts, learned basket weaving, and studied Middle Eastern dancing. What’s more, she’s a certified herbalist, and an AP College Board-authorized teacher of calculus.

Her creative efforts have been nominated once for The Best of the Net in poetry, once for The Best of the Net in art, three times for the Pushcart Prize in Literature for poetry, once for the Pushcart Prize in Literature for fiction, once for the Million Writers Award for fiction, and once for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay. To boot, Hannah’s had more than forty-five books published and has served as an editor for several literary journals.

Check out her latest short fiction collection, An Orbit of Chairs:

https://www.amazon.com/Orbit-Chairs-KJ-Hannah-Greenberg/dp/B0CWMMM73T

Within its pages are two tales originally published at Yellow Mama: "Alive Another Day" and "Light Notes."

Channie's new art book, Life's Colors, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FGCTHJ6Z, just launched (hit "read sample" button). It contains images originally published by Yellow Mama.