Aliveness is Deadly

Ashley Shea

He drinks to hide the shadow of his dimmed heart

Escaping to the clouds, floating

The alcohol, a manipulator

Tricking his dark soul into beholding false light

For those moments, he is happy, content with the world

Life’s stressors and all its dirty work

Blockaded by the poison

Peaceful, invincible, alive

But when the fogginess erodes

He withers

Again facing all the truths reality is withholding for him

Again facing the aftermath of being ambushed by his elusive thoughts

Dull, vulnerable, just getting by

Does he know his aliveness is killing him?