If you're gone
The waves will still crash
The rain will still fall
The leaves will still change

But if you're gone
I will crash with the waves
I will fall among the raindrops
It will change me like the leaves

So if you're gone
The world may still revolve
The Sun may still burn
But I will never be the *same

“Are you afraid of the dark?”

No. Not at all, in fact.
I really don’t mind
A pitch-black room.

What I am scared of,
Is my dark.

The dark that swallows my vision
When I lay down at night to sleep.

This deep, dark dreamland
Is far more severe
Than what any nightlight could fix.

Sleep is a tsunami.
I am a swimmer in the middle of the storm.
With each paddle, I am taken out and under.

Insomnia is my buoy.
The constant rattle in my head
Reminds me of the tempest to come.

Nightmares are like sharks.
They eat and gnaw on my thoughts
Shredding my soul to pieces.

The bitter liquor
Of addiction pours out
Of the inflictions that we cast.

The adrenaline
That comes from the thrill
Of gambling
Masturbates the soul.

They act like painkillers,
But in fact they are hunting
Down our chances of recovery.

We cannot let these demons thieve our
Attention away from our mental health,
They will only use us as their food.

We love them,
But they only lust us.

We must put the demons to sleep.
We must drain them of their wealth.
No longer may we let them binge on our suffering.
Nor let them purge out our humanities.

We do not need their
Nicotine, ******, or coke.
We must rise above the addiction,
And promise ourselves to never fall again.

n.c.