Two Things

I get cold now when before I would never get cold.

I would walk unshod in the dead of winter
and never notice the coldness of the concrete
beneath my calloused feet.

But now, oh yeah, I feel the cold in my bones,
like an axe splitting a timber.

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Donald Brumby's wife eats pills.
She's a nurse at a nursing home,
in charge of administering the meds.
Suddenly she's developed a sore back,
a sore throat, shaky nerves, and acute depression.
She steals and eats pills of all shapes, colors, and sizes,
and she does not speak much to anyone.

Donald Brumby wants to make love to his wife,
but when he slowly unbuttons her blouse
it is like opening a medicine cabinet;
he can hear all the small pills
rattling around in her stomach. The sound
sickens him and he recoils in disgust.
And beside, she's much too tired for that.