Everything came so easily back then.
You inhaled information in the way that most of us breathe air,
learned reading and spelling and maths facts seemingly by osmosis.
Fountains of scintillating semiquavers flowed from your flute with a flourish;
dragons and mandalas and anime characters poured from your pen.
As ideas and opinions, laughter and sarcasm filled the air,
the future really did seem limitless.
With isolation and pain came injuries and excuses.
The dishonesty started, with lies to cover other lies –
these doing a good job of covering up the heart of the issue.
I know you needed a way to cope, and still consider it your friend now,
but that intoxicating rush has cost us all so much.
The money, the broken possessions; the lost jobs, the crashed car;
the lacklustre grades; the trip of a lifetime – ruined.
I know this is not what you want,
yet still it holds you in its power.
We see brains and beauty, talent and potential;
chaos and heart-breaking devastation, dirty clothes and empty bottles;
and I wonder: is it possible to reclaim the life that now seems lost,
or must both coexist, conflicting sides of the same coin?
Addictions will inevitably bring on chaos and trouble. The last lines show that life still exists but the doubt of what that life will turn out to be is the question. I can relate to this. But for me, I don’t see those friends with addictions anymore. So I can only wonder.
That picture is scary.
Lost a buddy to addiction. He was an Iraq war veteran and couldn’t get used to society again. I felt you on this.
D.