by Ilene Millman
An easy-to-follow recipe really, the original from 1977. Just three required ingredients,
but be sure to check you have them on hand, in case
that one you thought you had is unavailable since the manufacturer
dislikes the way you're using it.
Be sure to check your equipment: two intravenous cannulas, one a backup,
plus a line leading to an adjacent room,
saline, hypodermic needles, alcohol for sterilizing just in case
someone suddenly says the word “Stay” as happened in the case
of James Autry in 1983.
You may experiment with substituting alternative
ingredients although one is banned in some states since the botched
batch in the case
of John Marion Grant, who convulsed two dozen times and puked
although he did breathe 12 more minutes. Administer in the sequence set here:
first injection to cause unconsciousness followed by the one for paralysis and the last
cardiac arrest.
Watch for these procedural problems: needle applied in the wrong direction, drugs
injected into tissue and not vein, or inability to find a vein as in the case
this week of Tony Carruthers, or the case
two years ago, of Marcellus Williams where
evidence is strong
that he just might have been
innocent.
Ilene Millman writes about memories, mud, music, modern times, anything her abiding and determined fascination grabs onto. Her first poetry book, Adjust Speed to Weather, was published in 2018, and A Jar of Moths, in March,2024 (Ragged Sky Press). She was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2022 and 2024. A speech/language therapist, she published two therapy games designed to help school-aged children with language development problems.
