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Rico Garcia Oct 2024
At 7:54,
On July 17th 2023.
I embraced a new chapter,
embracing sobriety.

I took this stand through heartbreak,
Felt the pain each and everyday.
Refused to let my spirit,
be distracted and led astray.

2 breakups tested my strength,
but I held on so very tight,
For July 17th,
marked the start of my new fight.

In the depths of my despair,
I nearly chose to give in.
But a flicker of hope kept burning,
burning deep within.

So here's to the battles fought,
and the victories I have won,
To the resiliency within,
to never be undone.

For now, Sobriety's my gift,
a chance to truly thrive,
Chasing dreams, embracing life,
Thanking God I’m still alive.
H AE MZ Sep 2024
One inhale, you take me.
Take me away from —
Life, to live as death.

One inhale, you make me.
Make me forget to —
Live, and numb my mind.

One inhale, you push me.
Push me away from —
Love, to feel only hate.

One inhale, you change me.
Change all of me, into—
Self-hate, into isolation.

One inhale, you suffocate me.
Suffocate my thoughts, until—
Silence is all I know, a hollow echo.

One inhale, you leave me.
Leave me trapped, in—
Clouds of ash, broken lungs screaming.

One inhale, you break me.
Break my will, to—
Hope for breath beyond you.

One exhale, I see you.
See you for what you are—
A thief, robbing me of time, of peace.

One inhale, you poison me.
Poison my thoughts, until—
I lose sight of myself in your smoke.

One exhale, I reclaim me.
Reclaim my life, my time—
Breathing out your lies, breathing in truth.

No more inhales, no more lies.
I reclaim the air—
And breathe without your weight.
This poem is my personal reflection on the damage smoking has caused in my life. For years, I let it control me, numb me, and take me away from the things that truly mattered. Through each inhale, I lost a part of myself—time, love, and peace—until I was left suffocated and isolated. The poem's shift to "exhale" marks the moment I started seeing the truth: smoking was a thief, stealing my life. Now, as I reclaim my breath and my freedom, I am choosing to move forward without the weight of addiction. This is my journey of regret, anger at the time I've lost, and the hope I now feel as I take back control.
Syd Aug 2024
A tuber of sobriety
sprouts in the mind
It swells and thickens
from a root to a vine

A tendril meanders
and wavers
but all the while
still climbs...

The impossible
becoming possible
with discipline
and time
Thomas W Case Jul 2024
Night comes on like
an old hound lumbering
in from the field.
I don't fight it.
I'm getting too old.
I sit with pen in hand,
and wait for the
darkness to show
me something.

I think about vaginas and
Ireland and fish that
hunt a t night.
I think about
Bukowski and
Beethoven, and the
*******, and a kernel
of corn.
I think about my
life and this night, and
how it is better than
those near-death years of
caterwauling and chaos;
drunk by the river, lonely
as a glass snake.
I was living to drink, and
didn't give a **** about
anyone.
I was searching.
I found it
when the light came.
Here is a link to my you tube channel where I read my poetry from my recent books, Seedy Town Blues Collected Poems, on Amazon and Rise Up Collected Poems and Short Stories, available on Booksie.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qum45hpUqrg&t=16s
PERTINAX Jun 2024
If only I could summon the will to banish my daemons;
Exorcise the rot that for too long has brought me low;
Waged a war unseen and unheard by the outside;
Inside, a mutinous cacophony of a ****** battlefield;
Where the parts of me unfouled by corruption, weep;
Tears of crimson blood run down as flowing rivers rage;
Anger, that the current refuses to change its course;
Sadness, that I was the one who had diverted destiny;
Swept away by tides no mortal man can hope to shake;
Trapped, like mighty Atlas, beneath the weight of fate;
An unfortunate purgatory of endless indecision;
A fear to see myself beyond the scars I have caused;
Calloused, my pessimism knows no boundaries;
There can be no going back to brighter days;
When days are comparable only to the blackest night;
Sunrises carry the gravitas of the setting sun, reversed;
Life, loses the beauty that once inspired the muse;
Leaving me feeling empty, lost on 'oft forgotten seas;
Praying for Charybdis to churn and drown my daemons;
Finally setting me free from this self imposed slavery;
Shattering the chains holding my past to my present
bob Apr 2024
Though I'm not in jail it all just feels the same
Waking up depressed told just not to complain
A shotgun to my head i feel like Curt Cobain
Not a literal sense, but the context sustains
I don't want money, success, not even some fame
I just want to learn to play this game
Each day it gets hard i just keep  breathing
Wondering how the **** this happened, it feels like treason
From a comical skeptic to a reliable source
I question the water that was gave to the horse
Viewed as a sinner but always in doubt
"Read from the scripture and figure it out"
Nightmares keeping me awake like a proxy
SO many bad thoughts I wish I could get off me
Do your 12 steps Bob, everything is kosher
Yet I wake every night screaming still sober
A stranger does the same, and everyone wants to know her
A technicality set, a glimpse for closure
Different from most but related to some
I feel alone but second to none
Shaking again always be the **** up
"drinkings a sin" Always press my luck up
Some things I will never understand
But if it doesn't change I will be ******
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