Dark Voyage
Another dark alley
Why aren’t there ever any
light alleys? she quirks to herself
She waits for the next john to be sexed
Pawns her body for a fix
Used to be kicks
First the hash pipe
Upgraded to Opium 5.0
The real deal, the needle
Heroin
Looks like a smear of poop on foil but
once it’s lit, it’s hit and
she isn’t worth shit
Heroin, a nightmare cannibal picnic
sliding down the clever beanstalk
into the tar pits for a long slick sick soak
Heroin. She’s nodding, her mind
smolders with visions conjured from
the greasy plank decks of the U.S.S. Sheol
She forgets the mess under her dress and
presses her mind against a wall of sounds
When she wakes, her stomach will ache
She’ll john once more to score
to black it out
to empty the chasm
already scraped bare
The addict: A mind forever voyaging
through strange seas of thought, alone
© 2013 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
Image: Wikipedia Commons
Kerry at Imaginary Garden With Real Toads wanted us to write using a line from a William Wordsworth poem, since today would have been his 243rd birthday. The Wordsworth line I chose was, “A mind forever Voyaging through strange seas of Thought, alone.” This is how I see many addicts: isolated, caught in a foreign place (even if it’s his/her home town), and always wondering. The “aloneness” of the line grabbed me by the ear and said, “Listen!” And so I did. And then I picked up my pencil. This is also for the Poetry Pantry at Poets United… proud to be a member! Peace, Amy
Sharp Little Pencil 
brenda w
Amy, I can’t tell you how lucky I am that heroin was not available in my town the few years I really experimented hard. More than once I’ve thought it a miracle we didn’t cross paths. This is a strong write that struck me at my center. Thank you.
Polly Robinson
God, Amy, this is powerful ~ respect x
Mary
Wow, Amy, you really wrote a poem with a powerful punch here. Never have been there….but the whole experience became so real through your poem. Gulp.
David King
Strong, powerful writing delivering a subject that needs it to be so. Bravely done. Bravo!
J Cosmo Newbery
A powerful, edgy poem; a nasty but embracing (in all the wrong ways) world.
lmkazmierczak
Worthy words…Wordsworth would be impressed.
Roger Green
there ARE light alleys, but how interesting would THEY be? this is dark, and not just the passageway…
Kerry O'Connor
I like the fact that your poem is completely unique, a truly original take on the quote provided. The story you tell is harrowing but all the more authentic for the details you provide of a life in ruins.
kimnelsonwrites
Brilliant, again. I deeply love a recovering heroin addict. You tell the story true.
ihatepoetry
An excellent portrait of the solitude and the loss in an addict’s life. Your words bounce sprightly when they have to and fall hard when they have to. Love to you, your brudda, the 23 years sober Moskowitz
Panchali
Kudos…have never been into it, but I can gaze the extent of devastation this notorious thing can bring. Very well penned!
Lisa A.Williams
Definitely a poem with a powerful punch and really like the way you told the truth, no matter how unsettling. Really gave me insight into the life of an addict, so sad. Wonderfully written!
I HAVE A VOICE
very cleverly written and very black and white, painful withh truth.
Stormcat
The fix to forget the thing done to get the fix. Dark alley. A true spiral in darkness. Your words give a sobering glimpse to the inexperienced of humans living more than 3 standard deviations out.
Pen, Alias Jinksy
Heroin? A most unpoetic subject on which to write a strong poem…
Sharp Little Pencil
Yeah, I don’t know where that came from, just struck me.
Sara v
Amy, you certainly captured the darkness, despair and emptiness–such an incredible flow of words that joined sounds with one another beautifully, for such a sad poem.
purplepeninportland
A perfect interpretation of Wordsworth’s line. Darkly falling down a hole.