Nirvana*

He is on the needle
And swallows vodka
By the case.
He is on a path
To assured destruction.
His eyes are hollow.
His soul echoes vacancy.
He is miserable
Lonely
Desperate.

Sitting across from me
He asks what I may do.

After a phone call
Consulting services
I offer him an appointment
For tomorrow
And hope for the best.
He shuffles back to the shelter.

See how the mighty have fallen!

He told me about his cars
His palatial home
His seven-digit income
His model wife
All lost
At the point of the needle.

After a career of interviews
Just like his
I remain at a loss
To comprehend the attraction
Of false realities
And the search for Nirvana.

Perhaps we all have our devices
That are crafted
To attack us at our core dependencies
Our favorite fantasies
Our familiar lies.

And I am certain, there
But for the grace of God
Go I.


* Sadly, this is true account of a recent series of interviews with a client. He agreed to undergo detox, then I entered him in our rehab program. The following week, upon receiving his monthly SS check, he left rehab with the speed lightening streaks the sky, got two bottles of vodka, scored some heroin on was back on the street. He will, of course, die. Sometimes you eat the bear...sometimes the bear eats you.