Reluctant zombies

 belly up to the bar

and pick your poison

anything you could ask for

anything you could want

to numb the pain

numb the sorrow

lift the spirit out of mundane boredom

because let's face it

the everyday drudgery is just as taxing

as the extraordinary trauma

this spinning globe has to offer

for this a place to escape

escape anything you're running from

the ghosts that call to you from the past

the monsters lurking at your door now

or those unseen horrors anticipating what's next

because whatever it is

that is pounding at your chest

playing your nerves like the strings of a diabolical symphony

they can be paused

they can be temporarily vanquished

from this liquid in the bottle

or that chemical pounded pill

or that puff of smoke laden with Shangri-La ha ha ha

to make you coo and purr and sleep this all away

as if all these sordid emotions

these ongoing, my-fucking-god burdens within you soul

or these debts that just keep growing

like ticks fattening on your heart's own tits

are just some horrible nightmare

you can watch in the wee hours on some low budget cable channel

but their not, and this is not

and it is rarely a good idea to ignore all this

but as is tradition, bottoms up

better the illusion than...