Levofloxacin

i peek inside

my doctor's office as he

spins

the drug

wheel nailed to the wall.

he gives it

a hard spin,

as the nurse stands there

with a chart

ready to write down

what drug the wheel lands

on this time.

finally it stops on Levofloxacin,

a drug often

used to treat the bubonic

plague

and other dreadful

illnesses, or to help

recover

from the inhalation of anthrax.

but i have none of that,

regardless,

he prescribes me 21 pills,

for three weeks

straight.

after taking three,

one each day,

i wake up one morning

and i can't walk.

fifty years of playing every sport

and never

getting injured

seriously, and now with a few

swallowed pills,  i can't walk.

my legs are swollen

and it feels like my tendons

are about to rupture.

i crawl to the bathroom

to vomit

in the toilet.

i'm dazed and confused, more

so than i ever

was in the 1970's.

if i make one wrong move

i may fall and crack

my head open

on the cold tile floor.

i call him up, and mumble,

yo, dude?

he says oops, my bad, let's

try something else.

i hear the wheel

spin, and the nurse say,

can i spin it one time too?