Syringes

They are everywhere I walk.  
Everywhere I live.

Bus stops, park benches, 
window sills, in garbage cans.

They are dangerous.  
Containing small amounts of blood
that can do large damage to a person's life
if they are poked.

Long plastic tubes, with a lethal
metal point at the end with the plunger.

Syringes have brought death to many people.
For others, they deliver life saving medications,
or extract body fluids to save lives.

They have a more sinister use, as well --
a vehicle for drugs people use to get high.

Sometimes these drugs cause total bliss,
sometimes they take peoples lives.

They can be be packed with lighter fluid
to use as a miniature flame thrower.

I've used these plastic tubes, these syringes
to administer lethal doses of life threatening drugs.

Syringes have taken, and given
life.

Frederick Miller participates in Megaphone’s creative writing workshop at Onsite.