in a million years
when my daughter asks me
why I take these little pills
I’m going to tell her
that when I was little
just a little older than her
I didn’t like the world very much
and I was so stubborn
that I made my own world
and I lived there
until I found out
that I couldn’t survive outside
not anymore
and when she learns in class
that humans can’t survive on mars
and that there’s no water
and not enough oxygen
on the beautiful venus
she’ll understand
that humans shouldn’t go looking
for other worlds
because some of us have found them
and we’re all taking
these little pills
unpleasant conversations 