I have known you all my life (mother’s milk given a slight kick & a spike!)

Though we were not properly acquainted till I was well into my teens: 

Our skirting/casual acquaintance has admittedly turned addiction over time-

You kept me company through my ills, never disappointing- 

Each time, delivering what the bottle described

My kith, my kin have long since abandoned me: wanting nothing more to do with me

Now my friend, they say our friendship is killing me: each sip, turning my blood into vinegar & wine- what bittersweet irony!

They say I was once a bright glistening star: And, casually remark – 

(When they believe my wits and hearing have abandoned me) – 

‘How the mighty do fall’

Alas, I may smell like a stale pitcher of some backwater brewery, with slurred speech, in beggar’s garb…but, my hearing yet remains pin-drop sharp-

I have become a cautionary tale; maybe that is my misspent life’s begotten  aim! 

I have fathered two beautiful children & was convinced of my fidelity to their beloved mother, until my indiscretions caught-up with me-

Though I still love her, she is no longer my wife;

Having, understandably, turned bitter, antagonistic & hurtful – to the extent that she can no longer stand the sight of me (taking along my daughter to her side)-

As I lay dying on that hospital bed (near comatose, each breath a tortuous labour), I did somehow see:

My wife, looking at me with hostility & detachment from the foot of the bed (whatever happened to all the good things we did?);

My young son, in another corner, shedding tears of loss- 

For the miserable soul who had fathered him & tried to over-compensate for all the woes he had witnessed, with gifts-

When all he had needed was love!

I finally understood & regretted:

But, was the thought actually mine or a fever dream brought on by lack of drink?

A last thought, if not a final goodbye, to a ‘friend’ who was not truly a ‘friend’, but your greatest enemy in disguise!