One Less Friend -------------------------------------------
There was once a boy who lived in a cocoon,
and he shot heroin instead of growing wings.
He chose a drug addict for his lover
and they circled Death like moths circle flames
until one day he died
in a TJ Max parking lot
with the needle still in his arm.
The paramedics came,
and the reporters came,
and his friends from rehab came
to stand around watching
his body being removed from his car.
Everyone was sad, and his friends cried
"How could this have happened?"
One reason could be that it's damn near impossible
to use an EVZIO auto-injector when you're already dead.
Death is calm after the storm of heroin. The calm of death is beyond understanding. We are left standing around with nothing to say, and no one to say it to.
My son is a 26 year old white male heroin addict. This could have been him. He is clean right now. He is facing a very long prison sentence for attempted robbery but he is clean and he is alive. I weep for this family and for my own. I weep for every family that suffers due to this drug. Naloxone will not save all our loved ones. But it will save some. It will give them the chance to try to emerge into the world again. I wish this young man had gotten that chance.
The first two lines here are really beautiful.
There was once a boy who lived in a cocoon,
and he shot heroin instead of growing wings.
Submission Name: One Less Friend
