I wrote this poem “Addiction” in July 2010. I’ve made very minor tweaks to it, but this is the final version.
“Addiction”
My man’s love addiction to his ex is like
Any other addiction, he said –
Crack, whiskey, sex.
He’s a man of integrity,
Faith and intelligence,
But his “addiction” is another story.
One afternoon,
After sobbing into
One whiskey flask and
Two glasses of wine,
He phoned me on my cell.
In vino veritas – “In wine there is truth,” he slurred to me.
“Ask me if I’d leave you for
My ex if
She asked me back.”
“Would you?” I asked,
Though I’ve nagged him about this
Question
Plenty of times before
(He denied he’d dump me for her).
His reply that afternoon:
“Yes! I’d drive down to her place in
twenty minutes!”
He said he drank to kill his
24 hr. stomach flu pain
And
His heart’s pain
And
Crying out for love.
Maybe I can’t compare to his ex –
His stunning ex, who looks like
The Disney character Pocahontas
(But I think Belle is much prettier!).
His confession killed my faith
In our future.
Well, it didn’t kill my faith.
Just put it on life support.
– Teresa Edmond
June 7, 2010