Learning Under the Bridge

It wasn’t my own 

love of the lyrics 

Nor descent into 

addictive madness 

that wove 

Kiedis’s meaning 

into my bones 

Oh no. 

Under the Bridge 

did become 

a fleeting thought 

when the father 

of my children 

moved under 

the overpass 

near the Waffle House

downtown 

The song hadn’t 

yet been written 

when my own 

Full House father 

relapsed and died 

from an overdose 

It was personified 

in the tattered 

clothes and 

dirty faces 

encountered 

while searching 

for my 

adult child 

among a 

tented sea 

of lost dreams 

Drifting away 

from the harbor 

of countless 

hopeless families 

Into the belly 

of the beast 

with no Geppetto 

Instead 

a gangster’s paradise 

of real life 

Pinocchios 

And I 

becoming 

Fairy Godmother 

and 

Jiminy Cricket 

both 

With many 

pointing fingers 

but no 

helping hands 

Grasping demons 

of socialization 

and the ritualistic nature 

of the rite of passage 

The Sacrificial slaughter 

of the lambs 

And so 

I have dawned 

the war paint 

To gladiate 

a bridge of love 

at any cost 

so my son 

will be more 

than another statistic 

To become 

a real boy 

and not just another 

cautionary tale 

of the 

American addict

 

Reviews

[Chris Shaw]

Addictions are hell. Your poem resonated with me as my daughter has addictions and it has been a constant battle for years to ensure she survives. I so understand you. I don't want her to become a statistic either. I feel pain in your words as well as determination. May you be blessed with strength.

Chris

[AMMD]

Hugs to you and your daughter, and thank you, Chris

[Chris Shaw]

You are more than welcome.:)

[Ken e Bujold]

this poem is so authentic it's heart ache rendering. What I love and admire is the quiet strength with which it tackles the desolate truth of our time's dirty little problem. So many chose not to see the destruction that addiction can bring, not just for the addicted but for those left to pick up the pieces. You write with an honesty, no preaching no righteous sermons and I was moved my it. Thank you

[AMMD]

You're welcome and thank you