H.A.L.T.

Some time ago my therapist
told me of a little game to play
with yourself to keep from
drinking and doing drugs:
ask yourself Are you hungry?
Are you angry? Are you lonely?
Are you tired? The idea is
that then you solve as many
of those problems as you can.
Before taking a drink or doing
a line. My problem is that
the L and the T are always there,
always, without letting up, and
I have yet to find a way to
alleviate them. Hungry is easy
enough. Angry, not so much,
but still, it can be overcome
entirely within. Even Tired
is more of an inconvenience
than anything else. But
lonely? I thought I had that
one licked; I thought wrong.
What's to keep me from
drinking myself silly every night
if the Lonely part of this phrase
that's supposed to save me
cannot be made right? I was
really hoping you'd have the answer.

(2007)