Take This to the Pharmacy
Rx:
men’s daily multivitamin/one per day in the morning
Zoloft/100 mg per day in the morning, watch for signs of hypomania
Atenolol/50 mg per day, perhaps at night, for blood pressure
monthly massage membership: $60/one hour session, once a month
weekly psychotherapy for the childhood that never really happened:
$200/session [or] ($25/session – sliding fee), once a week, sometimes more
dental check-up, medical check-up, vision check-up:
$50ish/year co-pay, when you have insurance, variable
monthly psychiatric/medication management/prescription co-pays:
$25-?/month, depending on insurance (if any), variable
rent/utilities:
$0-1500/month, variable
student loan payments/credit cards/phone bill/subscriptions:
$100-500/month, variable
food budget:
$192/month
elective expenses: Lyft/Uber, alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, junk food,
$variable/month
weird sexual experiences, daily reliving of trauma(s), racism,
*Sometimes this is all in your head, so you’re an imposter
$writing material
get over it, man-up, brown kids don’t belong on the spectrum, you’re too sensitive & you’re a liar
$free
Jason Masino received his BA in Dramatic Art from UC Davis and his MFA in Poetry from Regis University. His work has been published in Cultural Daily, Inverted Syntax, Rigorous, South Florida Poetry Journal, fifth wheel press, and many others. His debut book of poetry — Sinner’s Prayer — was released in December 2022 by Passengers Press.