Obsessions

There is much to be said for
Living while letting all others do the same
For loving freely without restricting others
For dancing and singing and running
In fulfillment of one’s desires and talents
And for resting without interfering
In all the rights of humanity to do the same.

But can the addicted do any of these things?
Are they free to circumscribe their world
While granting all others the same?
What compels one person to gamble
Another to seek danger
To find excitement in destruction
Even to cause harm to self or to others
Who mean them no harm?

Perhaps they want only to honor you
Rather than worship you
To praise you not glorify you
To see the beauty in you
Not to be consumed by it
To love you dearly but
Not to the exclusion of all others.

And to all armchair analysts
Do not fall into the trap of thinking
You have all the answers for
Surely you do not;
Your mind can also trick you
It can outsmart your desires
Trump your needs and wants
When it blankets your consciousness
With that worst of all obsessions
Known as the great killer of life
And love and dreams—
Dementia.