You are on a very long list
of those who can’t though
they persist.
Learn the lesson of Achilles
heel: there's something that doesn't want you here.
You hold tightly the images
of misguided faith, role
models and illusory joy.
But graven images topple
as slow as dry rot and
Pandora quietly fills your
box of toys.
Your house is projected
and frozen in time.
Twenty layers of
wallpaper are peeling
your mind.
Rooms untouched like
100-year-old Mason
jar preserves. You can't
eat fruit kept for so many
years.
Your choice of worlds
kept the patterns; no
new beginnings mean
the same old ends.
You may not break all
the rules, but you sure
make them bend.
Grace seemed to touch
you as you walked a
mile or two seemingly
content. But no matter
how amazing the grace
was, you can't be where
you never went.
As long as scapegoats
hang on crosses all along
this highway like rows of
pigs hanging bloodless at
the slaughterhouse, and
as long as Western
religious pop culture icons
and other social images
replace what is real, the roadblocks and washouts
will continue to keep you
there. Achilles protected everything but his heel.
© 2025 Daniel Tucker
This speaks of the many forms of addictions humans are susceptible to. I was inspired to write this about someone I cared for very much. They suffered from alcohol and drug addiction. I was an Addiction's Counselor back then. I am so grateful that I kinda helped shock him and others into straightening up their lives. Therepy can be intense. Often it has to be. This write is an example of it. Sometimes this approach works in other areas of our lives. But quite often a less intensive approach is needed.