You tasted sweet on weary lips
And soothed a blistered soul,
You numbed a pained, tormented heart,
And filled a massive hole.

You wrapped your arms around me,
A comforting embrace.
Pinot, riesling, cabernet,
All washed away the angst.

Wine drove me quickly to the night
To dark, unsettled sleep.
Fueling unseen maladies
That festered underneath. 

I awakened to the blinding sun
Exposing starkest truths.
The shame of my affliction
Deeply planted in my roots.

Each week, a rollercoaster,
Speeding faster. Couldn’t stop. 
A cycle of insanity,
A ride with no way off. 

As I poured another drink,
It morphed into a gun.
My finger on the trigger,
I’d finally come undone.

I shattered glasses, cursed merlot
And crumbled to my knees.
A shadow of my former self,
Collapsed and begging, please. 

God, save me from this speeding train,
The wreck that I’ve become.
Pull me from these lethal tracks
Before the next car runs.

The world I’d known was broken,
Like the tortured soul inside.
One moment filled with clarity,
And I knew I could survive.

The journey isn’t easy;
I still tumble down those stairs.
But I try to focus on each step
And face persistent fears.

Today I see how far I’ve come:
My sunken spirits, lifted. 
The jagged pieces of my life
Made whole, perspectives shifted. 

You, too, can shatter glasses,
Curse the poison that you pour.
Boldly, bravely, break the chains,
Your world can be restored.