it was a wasted life i saw
at the bottom of a brown
bottle that brought little

comfort ---- it only added
to my pain.  dreams gone
sour tasted bitter on my

tongue, but i drowned
them in another swallow
---- didn't know what

trouble was until after i
stopped drinking.  the
loss of health, a job; the

loss of a marriage, my
son; the loss of a home,
of parents:  should have

been enough to drive me
to the beer store for cases
of ambered promises to

make me forget.  no.  my
sobriety means much more
---- twenty five years now.

(c) 2010, Karla Dorman (1/6)