Emma knows addiction,
Before her ABCs
The bills aren’t paid,
Only her father’s veins
There’s no dinner,
Only the addiction is fed
They now sleep on the streets,
But it’s not a home
The teachers wonder,
Why she’s so quiet
She likes school more than others,
The adults don’t smell like cigarettes
She dreams of a day,
Where she’ll be free
No more nights spent in fear,
Of her father’s fists
She’ll marry a prince,
The only bruises he will leave
Will be the ones from kisses,
Like she sees on TV
She doesn’t care what she will become,
Doctor or nurse it’s all the same
As long as there’s no addiction,
Running through her veins
‘One day it will change!’
Her father lies
His veins laugh every time he says it,
They know their grip is too tight
Her mother hates him,
And his family too
She tells him every night,
And then it begins
Bruises the next morning,
Tell the story
The makeup covers the marks,
But not the scars
But she’s just a hypocrite,
Because she’s got an addiction as well
She puts the poison to her lips,
And everything’s better
The social worker’s knocks,
Are drowned by her bottled friend
Her family wonders why she stays,
Why his grip on her is so tight
But that’s the thing about addiction,
There’s no logic or reasoning
***
Emma’s older now,
Approaching her graduation
She’s broken so many promises,
To that little girl
‘It’s only a bit of weed!’
She tells herself but it’s a lie
Because deep down her knows it’s an addiction,
Controlling her life
