less dark

in dark, smoky rooms we gather,

choosing to defy our instincts

rather than use drugs or drink

to drown out the dark things

we feel and think, the terror

that drove us to the brink of

sanity and murdered our

will to live, and made us

willing to give up the only

lives we had known for a way

of life we’ve been shown by

people who have grown into

what they were always meant

to be, giving us hope that we

can learn to cope with our

common disease, to eliminate

our tendency to instinctively

destroy the fabric of our being,

finally seeing that fleeing into

addiction turns our lives into

fiction and prevents us from

behaving with integrity and

conviction, so we continue

to be slaves to the demons

that take control and darken

our souls, never letting go

until we give them up or

they drag us so low that we

can’t retrace our path and get

back on track, but there’s

always a chance as long as

we draw breath and we still

fear a torturous death more

than the prospect of peering

into our hearts and exposing the

roots of our sickness so that

we can clear them away and

be okay in a way that we’ve

never before known…

-CV

Reviews

[PaperDoll]

Oh I love this! It has great rhythm, and a clear message. I also like the way the poem is presented. We all have some kind of addiction that we're prone to, even if it's not always the drugs or drink you mentioned here. Sometimes it's a way we treat ourselves, or a way we make others treat us. This has been true for me, and this poem worked on that level for me. My favourite line is "...finally seeing that fleeing into addiction turns our lives into fiction and prevents us from behaving with integrity and conviction..." Well done. x