Sometimes the bad thing
comes in the mornings
I let it in
we drink coffee together
sometimes the bad thing
comes at night
vicious and petty
It rises up to torment me
envelope me, suffocate me,
and I fight
with alcohol and pills
and desperate prayers to a God
I have long since abandoned
sometimes the bad thing
comes in the afternoon
I sit down
and make a list of
all the things I must do
until it fades away
sometimes it doesn’t come at all
I’m happy then
I see a way to live
I am different man
but after a while I miss it
and when it returns
I greet it as an old friend