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"The Imposter"

Returning from battleground
a medic that healed others
Faltering in his efforts
to forget the skeletons-
the gruesome flesh and bones
scattered athwart in the psyche
He pacified wounds
with a venom
Attaching itself like a leech

Alcohol numbed the memories
a combination of sacred and profane
Filtered between intellect and mouth
Losing anchor in the shadows

that followed him
Chained to a rock,
refusing to let go

A humble man in the sober light of day
craving a river of demon's drink
A black hole sucking him in
in the stormy nights where blankets
could not cure the pain

A wife behind a locked door-
a child tucked safely in
with a teddy bear, clinging for comfort

AWAKENED by the impostor-
Chaotic blood stirring
distillate of breath on the other side
Pillow held to the head could not drown
His screams
The fuse lit, the cannon set
The nights tarried as if no ending existed
necessitating the elixir
losing vigor to wrestle the demon
Helplessly crawling for the bottle
that held power more than his own

Tying a noose around
the family secret-
Not understood
Not to be revealed
by the little girl
She choked on emotions
that were not free to fly
internalizing her own pain
tainting what she could have been

Hollow eyes hung in fear
Was daddy dying?
She stood witness-
to ashen face and graying hair
lying within antiseptic walls
following each episode
a fleeting remedy
awaiting a perpetual release

She worshiped her daddy
a man of honor and integrity
His hands were gentle as spring rain
His voice as a sonnet armed with roses
His heart selfless as God's own-

Until

Learn more about this author, Kathy D.
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