Tragically peer-pressured addictions to pain.

Sweet seduction distracts and enthralls,
Pulling me thither and whither it will.
And I am on its gossamer leash, led by sweet words and kind faces,
And a whisper of a promise.
Guide these tired feet to a warm sun-lit path,
Guide these tired feet home.

-

Through fire and shadow and a freezing wind,
Through heartache and headache and soles worn thin,
I realize that I never wanted this path, never wanted this leash.
I wanted me: with eyes open, with conviction, with poise.
“In the shadows of a nightmare where justice naked is”,
I wanted a reason beyond the tug at my neck,
I wanted anything but this.

-

Stop leading me, and I will lead you,
For this rope was a leash for two.
Let us walk off this path, in to the cool grass,
In the sunset hours to come.
We shall gaze at the stars,
Not the smog and the cars,
And we will find our own ways home.