First came night, and then black rage upon the
Gloaming. And from the silence of the harrowing
Gates came Rape, riding a tubercular mare, and
Towing a rusty pickup truck, upon which trainees
Took turns doing practice pelvic exams on an
Anesthetized patient; her first surgery, she clung
To a stuffed rhino in the pre-op area, her parents
Uttering soothing words about how only the smartest
People got to be doctors. Next came Bankruptcy, a
Furious conflagration through which countless
Hearths were burned to ashes, as the vanquished
Watched in horror, humiliated and debased they
Succumbed to the roaring shadow. Descending on
A giant vulture was Substance Abuse, wearing a
Hat that said Adderall for Every Simp and All; from one
Arm it hauled a bag containing the spirits of those
Slain by barbiturates and benzodiazepines, trailing
Were the phantoms that frantically sought to put
Their souls back inside their bodies, the fiend always
Just out of reach of their forlorn and wretched
Grasp. And lastly came Murder, a skeleton riding
Atop a frothing Tyrannosaurus whilst toting a
Shotgun and donning a bandolier loaded with Vioxx
And OxyContin, the bodies of mangled patients
Dripping from ghastly maws. And these four horsemen
Defiled wolds upon the main, they stole the weeping
Babe, they moaned on mottled ground – they loosed
The Hadean tide – they clove the prairies of the dawn