Veins of Shadow
Needles dance with liquid fire
In the alley's muted choir
A soul waltzes with desire
Captive to a craving liar
Scarred terrain beneath the sleeve
Woven webs that interweave
A heart's aching, can't deceive
The truths from which one can't bereave
Eyes, once bright, now dull and hollow
Chasing dragons they can't swallow
Promises of 'no tomorrow'
Sunk in sorrow's deepening furrow
Whispered fates, they beckon slight
Through the hush of endless night
Pray for strength to win the fight
To cast away the venom's blight
Yet in this dance of pain and rue
A chance to start the tale anew
Grasping for the morning dew
As dawn breaks skies, a hopeful hue
The Chalice of Torment
An empty bottle's hollow song
Textured memories, right and wrong
Drawn to a sip that makes one strong
In a inhibition's throng
Each gulp infuses fire with need
Disarming mind, sowing the seed
The balm that makes reality recede
A daring, destructive deed
The liver stained with toxic guilt
Drinks up the life that one has built
Neglecting love, ignoring wilt
Until all bridges seem to tilt
But deep within, the spirit cries
Against the bottle's endless lies
Seeking solace in open skies
Before the final sunset dyes
Liberation comes in drops of grace
A tender hope to find its place
To redraw lines, to slow the pace
In life's unforgiving race
Smoke's Embrace
Whirls of smoke in amber light
Bending wills, obscuring sight
A fleeting peace, duly bought tonight
Inhaling deeply, ash to slight
Clouds that wrap both heart and mind
A gentle trap, a sweetened bind
Seeking refuge that none can find
In smoky rings, their fates entwined
Withdrawal's grip, a fierce contender
As each inhale seems to tender
False warmth in the cold December
To the addiction, one must surrender
A cough that rends the morning's calm
Can't compare to nicotine's balm
A soothing touch, a healing psalm
The weary lungs singing no qualm
Yet whispers through the cindered air
Hint at change, a chance to care
Breaking free from smoky snare
For health's embrace, a breath to share
Rocks in the Stream
Crystal shards of false delight
Reflecting broken streetlight's might
In twisted alleys of night
A soul succumbs without a fight
The pipe's a scepter cold and grim
Commanding life with vigor dim
Illusions burst at the brim
While truth's light faces shadows' trim
Rock by rock, the stream cascades
Through life's cracked and weathered glades
Erosion of resolve, it fades
As substance's debt in full parades
Yet there's a song of distant streams
Vibrating through the darkest dreams
Chanting of recovering extremes
To cleanse the rocks with hope's sunbeams
In transformations, waters thrive
Pushing rocks to health, alive
In sobriety's spring, to dive
And in pure waters, to strive
Pillars Fall
Lurking in the closet shallow
Are pills that make the world seem mellow
Swallowed hopes, too hard to swallow
Future graves lain fallow
Timed release of hushed euphoria
Stifling pain, but at what cost, hysteria?
Each capsule a staged, morbid opera
The pillared strength, a crumbling arena
Dependency's grip takes hold serene,
An iron fist cloaked in velvet sheen
Disguising chaos with a vapid glean
Marching forward, unseemly, unseen
Yet within the grasp of medic pills
Lies the vigor to combat the ills
To shatter columns, rebuild the frills
Reshape the life addiction stills
The journey back from pillowed bane
Is strewn with relics of the pain
A rusted crown one can't sustain
But through the struggle, life will gain
Painted in Powder
Face down in starched, white lines erased
A powdered path to pleasure chased
Reality distorted, hastily displaced
In crystalline landscapes interlaced
With every inhalation's drawn design
The borders of the self decline
Layer by layer, intentions entwine
Beneath the drug's seductive shine
Yet those white lines are not as pure
As the driven snow, no sure allure
But maps to lands with no cure
Where shadows dwell and fears procure
The mirror holds more than a face
Reflecting back a life's disgrace
Still, therein lies a saving grace
To redraw lines, oneself embrace
To wipe the slate of powder clean
Reveals the strength in the unseen
Hues of hope in life's new scene
Beyond the white, a future green
Through Veils of Mist
Vapors rise in silent praise
Of highs that burn the foggy daze
With each puff, reality sways
In the labyrinth of hazy ways
Smoke’s veils draw tight around the chest
Easing breath, in chemical rest
In this cocoon, no quests or quests
Sanctioned by the mist's behest
The hookah's call, a siren's chant
Luring souls to wanton want
Yet every ghost of smoke does haunt
The greener pastures it may daunt
But through the mist, there lies a spark
A chance to navigate the dark
To arrow true, and hit the mark
Dispelling vapor, lighting the arc
In clarity's emerging song
The mist's allure becomes less strong
Breaths untangled, deep and long
From veiled nights to mornings' belong
Chasing the Dragon
Chase the dragon, ride the flame
A fleeting dream by any name
Through smoke that seeks to stake its claim
A life charred, a hidden shame
Eyes glazed in rapture, journey's dead
Upon the fumes, perceptions fed
Veins wander, threads of silver thread
Through silken smoke, dread softly spread
Sensional truths give way to lies
As dragon's wings fold mid-skies
Its fiery breath, a heart denies
Yet still, for that burning love, it vies
Ashes stir with hopeful cries
From depths where the felled dragon lies
To rise anew, to cut the ties
To find the strength where true flight lies
The chase abandoned, courage finds
A soul renewed, leaving smokes behind
In clearer skies, the heart unbinds
The dragon’s fire, now only in the mind
Grapes of Wrath
From vine to bottle, the wrath distilled
A vintage bearing promises unfulfilled
Goblets glisten, with crimson stained
Drunk on sorrows, love unfeigned
Maroon rivers course through muted veins
Flushing out joy's remnants, pains
With every sip, more boldness feigns
To mask life's thrills, losses, gains
The wine's deceit lies deep, profound
In goblet's curve, silence found
The libation's lull, tightly wound
In grape's sweet grasp, life's confound
Yet sour notes give way to clarity
Fermented fears turn to rarity
Vineyard of psyche cultivates parity
Cups of conviction, breakout's charity
In sobriety's harvest, love fortifies
As wrath's twisted vines dry, die
Sweet nectar of hope in skies
Boons of growth where grapes of peace lie
Heroin's Hymn
The syringe, a vessel of silent prayers
Injecting hymns of despair's affairs
Heroin's embrace, a love that dares
Beneath the skin, the spirit tears
The high, an altar on which to lay
Fleeting moments, night blending day
Each fix, a psalm that drifts away
A chorus of craving, in tangled fray
The narcotic's scripture, scribed in sighs
Chapters of sorrow in the veins arise
A testament to the lows and highs
Captive odes that addiction buys
But salvation hums a different tune
One of light that can impugn
The darkness of the opiate's rune
Guiding souls to heal, attune
Cease the song of a needle's call
Let the hymn fade, and habit fall
In newfound melodies to install
A life reclaimed, standing tall
