He's got her finally in his grasp. <br />He smiles in silent contentment. <br />She loved him at first sight - lost her appetite. <br />Now her flesh sags - lost between her bones. <br />All the symptoms of love, <br />Her Adonis lately absent - locked away by others. <br />She sits, broken hearted. <br />The intimate, lifelong affair <br />Sought out each Irish pore, <br />Fed each child ignoring moment, <br />Saved her when the tormentor <br />Half strangled her over the bath. <br />Bacchus has emptied her cup, <br />Supped all of her promise, <br />Used her for his own drunken ends. <br />He has redecorated her flesh, <br />Jaundice yellow <br />Replacing Hibernian rosiness. <br />She has left him for a while, <br />Rescued by her family. <br />Soon we will buy Mass cards, <br />Black ties will underpin <br />Melancholic mouths. <br />That will not be sad. <br />She has been thirty years in the dying.<br /><br />Joe Hughes visit joehughes.org.uk<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/alcoholic-8/
