Still I Croon

The is a poem inspired by my conversations with several patients burdened with chronic pain and who found themselves dependent on opioids for relief. For these patients, pain is an omnipresent and debilitating force permeating their existence, curbed only by the use of opioids; I was struck by the vivid language these patients would use when describing their relationship with pain and with these medications—some of which are directly used in this poem. They would simultaneously express a torn affection for the opioids, while recognizing the danger of continuing to use them. The poem is structured as an imaginary conversation between the patient/narrator and a personification of the medication/addiction. With this poem, I hope to share with readers a sense of the nuanced struggle and affliction I witnessed.