I sit helpless
& watch the blood drain
out of my poems

who used to run wild
pumped full of adrenalin
& speed

spraying sweat on onlookers
dazzling & disorienting them
with spiky hot & cold showers

& huge loudmouthed rainbows
that punched perfect holes
through their unbelieving eyes

now the poems lie here dying
victims of their own success
chained to life-support machines

my hand reaches for the plug