another soul
unable to take
the pain of
being ground down
into the dust
so she took more
and more to numb
the world away
until she decided
to take one last hit
and give that pain
to everyone else

she was a star
shining so bright
until the opioids
made her into
a husk that had
no choice but to
burn up as she fell
to the ground
scattered refractions
leaving little more
than another dead spot
in the heavens above

she was my sister
not by blood but
bonded together by
the chains of
incremental suicides
in a collusion of
deadly distractions
a wilted rose blooming
in a clustered patch
of clinging nightshade
and now she is nothing
but another statistic
awaiting cremation

we don’t get to choose
the things that will
assuredly kill us
just find ourselves
swept along upon the
chemtrails leaking
through the veil of
temporary forevers
as poisonous dreams
and quick fixes to
deaden the pain begin
to take their toll on
the hazy fragility
of self medicated ills

the void calls softly
a pervasive hum
pulling us closer
to the point of no return
a corrosion of receptors
screaming for more
an addiction to numbing
the rusted hooks
that tear through
painblossom cacophonies
highlighting the
meaninglessness of hope
with a simple surrender
to the hunger for more
when our bellies
are distended with maggots