Hungover
another day started with a hangover
i need to stop drinking
do the rest of sober October
at least the one day that is left
but then my addiction would turn to you
i’d drink you like four manhattans
slow and steady
until I fall on my face
wake up with regret
and a pounding headache
and a pounding heartbeat
the soft tissue of my brain
already forgetting
my declarations of love and
secrets slipping so easily
from every crevasse of my modality
but i think you like me like this
really like me like this
probably way too much to call it love
but what is that feeling just beyond that
i think you feel it too
it sticks in the throat like
artichoke choke
taking eternity to dislodge
clotting oxygen to aorta
bile burning trachea
hot thorny raw
when 12 steps
are only the first steps
of many more steps
and every step after that is just
that which we know we need
but are too hungover
too afraid to do anything about
-- Linda Vigil