I lie awake in the quietness

of the night, watching

him resentfully in

his alcohol induced sleep

Again he comes home with

smoky liquor on his breath

eyes vacant of expression with

broken spirit tucked behind some wall

Years of bad decisions line his face, look in his

darkened eyes and you see a

wounded little boy hiding

inside a grown man's soul

My husband, the father

of my children is this

stranger lying

next to me

Years of bad choices haunt

my dreams and yet

here I lie watching

him sleep