I wrote this poem while thinking of my best friend David, and how alcohol had destroyed his life. I had no way of knowing he would die the same day. He was my best friend for 25 years, and there will always be an empty spot in my heart where our friendship lived.
Cursed be the drug that numbs the senses,
Uprooting inhibitions and ripping down fences.
Though laughter and gaiety follow in its wake,
I shall ne'er again partake
Of that fruit of the vine, so rich and dark;
Once imbibed, it fastens on you like a shark.
Rending and tearing your life to a shred,
Nor does it stop, until you are dead.
Your dignity and honor are the first to go,
But that is far from a fatal blow.
Your memories it clouds, caution erases;
This is just one of its many faces.
Tighter and tighter it fastens its grip,
As more and more of your control does slip.
Those who are fortunate awaken one day,
Before their whole life has slipped away.
Others slip deeper and still deeper yet,
Until they are little more than its pet.
No mind of their own, possessed from within;
Brother to demons, shackled by sin.
