Juke box playing
Triggering memory
There’s rain falling sideways
Reminds me of misery.

Another drink of the green
Chase the fairy, in a land of make-believe
Anywhere I can roam,  a place that I can go
Escape the tendrils of reality.

Bruised lips kiss the bottle --
Hoping it can save the pain,
Bible recitals, hoping verses can absolve again
There’s a black box full of secrets
Crashing into the greenery, a lost plane,

“Help me,” scribbled down on a napkin,
A careless sigh from the bar-keep, handing me an aspirin
Demons lean in whisperin’,
Won’t listen, no, can’t let them in.

Dance floor neon -
Calling like a moth to flame,
I’ll let it all loose, let my mind reframe.
But the blood on my hands doesn’t wash
I see her within the stains.

“What did I do? How do I stop?”
I ask in vain
Juke box playing,
Triggering a memory.
Rain falling sideways--
Reminds me of her misery.