When my hallucinations leave
Me, my drinking takes over.

My car is a wreck, the
Scars of my reckless abandon
Blazoned like a painting
On a big yellow taxi, careening
Towards inevitable sorrow at
The hands of the ice queen
Of Paris.

My heart crippled,
Like polio to an orphan
It hits uncaring that
I’m down.

It hurts to compare
Because we separate
Our lives and see that
We aren’t that different,
Even from those we hate.

Johnny sees horses,
Joni paves paradise,
And the Charlies have
Lost their innocence.

But all realize they
Are the same.
Longing to be somewhere else.