I'd Better Leave the Percodan Alone

I know a man with an injured arm
who commands a nice supply; he keeps them
on his nightstand in a vial. The trouble

with these opiates is not the way they calm,
but how I sense this urge to reapply.
For the cord they twang is a plumb-line down

from the brain-stem through my toes,
and a horsehair bow does a note inside
which allows some valves to close.