DRINK ME (ode to alice)

A bottle can hold so much allure

calling you to drink its contents,

but all too often one forgets to be wary.

Check and find, or not, it labeled poison.

I always thought myself to be wiser,

wise enough to heed the warnings on the glass,

wise enough to catch my breath

before going out to swim

in a sea of tears.

I imagined I’d have the wit to

ward away its end, before

letting the toxin become

my everything.

I’m drowning in it now.

So small I can misplace myself,

yet large enough that I never will.

My body,

a constant reminder of the space I displace

in the ocean.

How easy it’d be to blame

this flood on poor packaging

but in truth, mayhaps I need to come

with a tag marked ‘poison’

tied around my neck.