Dark murky light trying unsuccessfully
To work its way thru a dirty window
Of a toilet in some out of the way dive
Where light is an after thought
And dirt seems to be the theme of the day
She sinks farther back into the gloom
Wrapping her purse strap tightly around her forearm
She searches for a vein that hadn’t run and hid
And she searches in vain, her body being wiser
Than her young mind…and her body had long since
Given up on her common sense
Knowing she would not see that red stream that
Told her she had hit a vein, she gave up and plunged
The needle deep into her arm, pushing the plunger
Home, and feeling the liquid squirt into the muscle
She knew she would pay for this, an abscess at least
But her impatience made her even less caring
Than she normally was, less worried about later
Consequences, only craving that brief respite that the small
Amount of heroin would bring, respite that would last
Too little time, and even now, as she felt the peace come over her
She knew the pain would be even worse afterwards
She wished for a moment she were smarter, had run
From this thing they call heroin, but she was only sixteen
And her smart days were still far ahead of her
If she was allowed to live them, she thought
As her head sunk to her chest