CELEBRATORY SAVAGES

A unit of dysfunction
I see before me
like a secret that must be kept,
there are no fair warning
in the vanities of families,
locked in vice and deadly sins,
carried like designer labels
tucked in the fabric, stitched
in the inseam of blood and time

physical dependence, absence, and
ignorance, debilitary pieces in the
game of life, in every addict, denial
it's wife left in a dark closet of obscurity

and they will convince
it is as it should be
in bathroom parties
on New Years Eve
festering their disease

a living room sofa overflowing
with high pitch chatter boxes
of nonsense and drivel
after every sip of incoherence
Cocaine crystal apparent under
nasal passages, celebratory savages

I flick my cigarette over the balcony
and watch it slowly descend
twenty three stories down

Author's Note

This is a poem that deals with issues within family, friends and addiction...celebration and gatherings where control substances are abused...hey I live in NYC, it runs rampid....I just write what I see.

Reviews

[Jeremy Baker]

The cigarette floating down reminds me of the light at the end of the tunnel, fading from view. This gave me goosebumps ... as good art always should.

[Sleepless]

this is really good imagery you write here awesome poem !:)

[roarke]

The artist perceives things differently than most folk and it is his plight to communicate, through his chosen media, those perceptions. I see this piece in two parts, the concept/perception in the first half and the illustration/communication in the second half.
Is there a way in a different write, to combine the two halves for a third perspective on the issues and images?
I either write all concept, or all image, and many times leave out the inner emotion and outer truth to the landscape.... as I said, this kind of communication is hard to express to everyone else.

[Victoria PoetryBunny]

As your author's note explains... i think you hit the spot with the meaning and he descriptions of the scene in this write very well. Love the ending three lines in that stanza as well as enjoying this part here:
"carried like designer labels
tucked in the fabric, stitched
in the inseam of blood and time"
This write speaks.

[Chris]

Real, well described, and understood...

[Coyote Poetry]

I lived in college towns and California. People like to live on the edge. I danced the edge a few times. Not with drugs. I lost four brothers to drugs. People want to feel different and special. I do understand how easy addiction could take over. I like the story and the places you took me in this poem. Thank you for the excellent poem.
Coyote

[WhiteWillow]

Loved the entire piece, but especially the end, the way a piece of harsh reality blows away on a breeze. Wonderful.

[freelancejouster]

i really, really like the way this ends, the cumulation of everything and then a pan down and away as if we needn't be bothered by it any more. just decend with the ash. brilliant.
*twenty-three

[Cassie Fraga]

TRUTH!!!! ~~~ ((nuff said)) =)