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...