Where the Fire Went

The mood is level, the chart looks clean

But something's missing in the space between

Can't feel the pull of what used to call

The wanting's gone quiet, the reward[1] won't land at all

Serotonin did her job, held the floor in place

But the dopamine door, she never touched that space

Where did the fire go, where did the fire go

SERT's at eighty[2] but the DAT's still cold[3]

A serotonin key won't open a dopamine lock

The VTA's waiting on a signal that never knocks

Mesolimbic pathway[4], nucleus accumbens dim

Prediction error silent at the cortical rim

No dopamine surge when the good thing comes

The signal fires flat, the reward goes numb

Bupropion at the transporter[5], asking to be heard

Reuptake inhibitor[6], dopaminergic word

Where did the fire go, where did the fire go

SERT's at eighty but the DAT's still cold

A serotonin key won't open a dopamine lock

The VTA's waiting on a signal that never knocks