Addiction

I am need
I am greed
A once imprisoned demon freed
At my core a constant chore:
this monster I must feed.
Clothed, cradled, and cared for,
now independently it breathes.
Obsessively orchestrating
my starved and desperate aching,
while my worn will is breaking
its splintered shards now sow their seeds
in the garden of my spirit
already overrun with weeds.
Dark desires join in fires
unbridled, now they breed
Fields of flame burst forth
to scorch my integrity,
demolish my decency,
shroud my sins in secrecy
‘til I’m left a hooded shell of me.
Like a graveyard groundskeeper
A head of stone, so gray and bleak,
I survey the land for signs of life
and throw remaining flowers in a heap,
specks of color in the compost
to become a bonfire of beauty.
Into a drain
my dying colors bleed
A faded stain
on the soil it leaves
Endless refrain
‘til there’s nothing left of me.