A puff, and a gulp.
Again and again.
This is the ritual I have to perform
To escape the twilight encroaching
On my fragmenting mind.

My pupils are discs,
While inferences are humming,
All the while my anxiety
Has me in a choke hold.
I stand up, look down
And from this vantage see
Without a trace of doubt
Myself lying broken
At the base of oblivion

A puff, and a gulp.
Trying my damnedest
To banish my waking nightmare.
Moaning, conversing
With my twin in the mirror.
Not knowing
Reality from fantasy.

A wail of laughter
A gnashing of joy
In the deepest abyss
Before the break of dawn.
The corpse lies still
At the base of oblivion
Bearing, if anything else,
My own face.

A puff, and a gulp.
Someone whispers in the wind
And a strong arm
Embraces me.
Pulling me back
From the dark portal;
Back into the womb
Of safety
Away from deceitful
Fantasy.

A puff, and a gulp.
All that are left
Are stubs and bottles.
But there still remains
The fiery fear.

A sigh.
A deep breath.
One step back
To my hungry
Sanity.