I sit by sorrow's streams
Amidst wistful longing
Your first soft kiss that lingered
will forever haunt my dreams

How sad it seems
to be so slavishly in love
weary even of life,
such sorrowful extremes,

but I hear remnants of our song
and pine for your possession
to live without you is my bane
life has dealt a bitter wrong

lost in the loneliness
this bereft heart grieves
solace now I seek, in
whiskey's lullaby to forgetfulness

ALesiach © 07/27/2019

July was in full bloom
I could see clearly from my room
the moon and the stars alive and well
The painting of the romantic night quickly fell

I walked to the window and sat
The streets were empty
The apartment even more
A night in the city’s belly

Buses, old and new, passed by
Men and women, of young and old,
stood still and are terribly ill-humoured
No jokes or stories were being told

A cigarette was lit in the room next door
If drink was at play, I was done for
She passed me a lighted one
Her gaze more dangerous than a gun

The streets became animated now
The cinema blurted out hundreds at once
I wondered what was on show?
She replied: probably another low

She brought out a bottle of whiskey
She said: once I leave, you’ll miss me
I said: is there a charge or a fee?
She said: you know it’s always free

She was right in that too:
I miss her alright.

At 6:00, I drank
to remember,
to swim in the nectar
of consequences secreted
over a lifetime.
At midnight, I drank
to forget.

—Ron Gavalik

That Whiskey bottle
Would drown me
If I let it

That Cigarette
Would smoke me
If I let it

Your Love
Would destroy me
If I let it

But I won't let it

I mean too much to me
To let that happen anymore

you said its what you needed.
what the doctor had ordered.
picked it up from the pharmacy.
it would ease the discomfort,
aches, pains, soreness,
and finally you would
feel yourself again.
after all the years of suffering,
you could finally love me right.
but i don't recall doctors prescribing
whiskey in a prescription bottle.

All they want
Is whiskey and a mirror
To see their faces clearer
Steer clear
They'll say
For they want peace and adoration
Yet they're stuck in emulation

All they want
Is a mirror and a gun
For dark reflective fun
Curse the ashtray
They'll say
It ruins their laundry whites
To gaze on their delights

All they want
Is a gun and God
To walk where sinners trod
Drunken Bible bullets
They'll pray
For when the darkness takes its motion
They'll fall to their drunken notions

and the traffic in your life is terrible,
drive forth.

When the sleepless nights come,
and whiskey cannot inebriate the feels,
nor Tom Waits lull you home,
and your mind goes dark and deep.

When you find yourself feeling sad
and can't locate the epicenter of life,
when all is gone,
take a minute,
2 minutes,
6+(n-1) when n > 9,
and vent your feelings.

Let the real you out to play
and find meaning in the insomnia.
I too got lost in a maze -
retrace, map, and conquer - not sure where I'm headed
but I can see the sunrise.


                 .