Tom Edwards' Poem "Why I don't drink anymore"

Thanks to my friend DeeJay for pointing this out to me - it was on a BBC2 show. An excellent summary of alcoholism


I changed because I have the sickness of alcoholism, alcoholism doesn't come in bottles it comes in people.

You should have seen me.
I drank for happiness and became unhappy;
I drank for joy and became miserable.
I drank to be out-going and became self-centred;
I drank for sociability and became argumentative and lonely;
I drank for sophistication and became crude and obnoxious.
I drank for friendship and made enemies,
I drank to soften sorrow and wallowed in self-pity;
I drank for sleep and awakened without rest.
I drank for strength and felt weak.
I drank for masculinity and it sapped my potency;
I drank medicinally and got sick.
I drank because I thought my job called for it and lost my job.
I drank to stimulate thought and blacked out.
I drank to make conversation and got to where I couldn't talk at all;
I drank to forget and became haunted.
I drank for freedom's sake and became a slave.
I drank for power and became powerless;
I drank to erase problems and saw them multiply.
I drank to cope with life and invited death...

Comments

  1. so true...brings it all flooding back, what a gift sobriety is !

    ReplyDelete
  2. wish my mum heard this before she died aged 61 due to alcohol poisoning

    ReplyDelete
  3. very powerful piece... could you incorporate it into a song perhaps??

    P

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love this... thanks for posting.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Alternatively, 'I drink therefore I am'....;-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. this left a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. these are very powerful words. i also agree for it to be made into a song.

    ReplyDelete
  7. seriously thinking of making this into a song with my rockband, i myself am an recovering alcoholic, this poem is spot on

    ReplyDelete
  8. Probably not the author.
    Attributed as a letter submitted to Ann Landers.

    ReplyDelete
  9. all so true. wish I could get it in a frame

    ReplyDelete
  10. Powerful words only an Alcoholic could write. im entering my first full year Sober, the longest ive done so far, i still have an urge to drink but i think of the bad times and i get past it.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fantasy Signature Guitar

Let's talk plectrums...

12 String Guitar - Bridge Doctor Installation