Sea of Poison

You seep into his veins

like water into a sponge.

And you had him from the start,

Making him believe that taking you in would make him forget

the sadness that rules his heart.

You didn’t even give him a chance

to choose for himself;

You took him over quick,

so he only got to choose

the bottle hidden on the bottom shelf.

You, you Poison,

You made him believe that you were the answer

to his problems,

And now when I see the drunken look in his eyes 

I can see that he has hit rock bottom.

And I worry every night,

wondering “Will it kill him?”

Then I torment myself with images of his glass being

refilled, refilled,

again and again,

right to the brim.

You brainwash him on a nightly basis,

Sitting alone, drowning in a sea of loneliness;

Meanwhile, your effects soon turn venomous,

And I sit here, so far away from him, 

wondering if there will ever be an end to this.

I wish I could be there 

to help him through these rough times,

And I wish I did when he still lived here.

I wish I could run into his house,

smack the bottle right out of his untouched hands

and watch it shatter on the floor.

I wish I could do that, 

I wish I could save his life.

I wish that you, Alcohol, were not his vice;

that life, that love itself, would suffice.

But you’ve taken him over,

and now we’re all paying the price.