COMPOSED IN A CHEMISTRY NOTEBOOK

“The Happy Pills”

(Sung by a chorus of doctors)

The white one just might help you,

Though it makes your heart beat fast

And it makes your tongue feel sandy

And your eyes feel hard as glass.

So there’s clanging in your left ear

And a buzzing in your right—

If you overlook the symptoms

It will help you sleep all night.

Tra-la!

Or you could try the blue one,

If you don’t care how you look,

If you don’t mind tiny blisters

Filled with icky greenish gook

That will start out on your stomach

And then overrun your skin.

Anyway, you don’t get out much—

So you won’t mind staying in.

Tra-la!

This new one’s just the ticket.

Just ignore the gloomy press.

Those stories are all nonsense

Placed by nuts seeking redress.

Yes, one patient shot his family,

But that doesn’t happen much—

We know other patients like it,

And that’s good enough for us.

Tra-la!

This red one is a killer.

You’ll feel like a brand-new man,

If you don’t mind weird sensations

In your procreative gland.

Call my cell phone if it stiffens

And you can’t get it to bend—

You’ll be rushed back with a siren

And you’ll never shtup again.

Tra-la!

Tra-la, la, la, la!

That will be one hundred twenty-five dollars, please.

“Oh, that’s funny, Billy,” Mom says.