his name was al

al was this
intoxicating
amber libation
swished against
my consciousness
with crimson
swizzle sticks of
minute kisses and
frenzied licks

my mind fell
supine with
sublime inebriation
the fermentation
within my belly
burned the lining
with fine yearning
and my hands were
left unsteady
my vision spinning
and yet ready
for the hallucination
that would lead
my soul to bliss

the sips at first
were hesitant
yet i was fully
cognizant
and so i drank
in fervent bursts
as acrid vapors
of my curses
stained his
tongue an indigo
and i gulped wildly
of his flow
until his mouth
lay empty

and as that
wicked witch's brew
shot bourbon bullets
right into
the 7th and 8th vertebrae
of father time's
decrepit spine
it paralyzed
both him and me
as i could not
afford to flee
and so i spent
what i had left
for drops
on bereft fingertips

and now I sit
within a room
full of souls like me
thinking back on
how I drank his
poisonous chablis
my spirit is now blanketed
with third degree burns
while I fidget impatiently
waiting for my turn
to rise before inquiring eyes
my confession now symbolic:

"Hi, my name is Nikki, and I'm an al-coholic"