Tag: addiction

Storm within (haibun +¸haiku)

On her walk home, she listened to Deva Premal, she had purchased three mantras last night…yep, three of the same mantras chanted differently. It gave her energy to start her shift and blessed her when she came home at the end of her long night.

She reached her home minutes after  midnight;  she gave her loyal feline friend a cuddle, then fired up the laptop. She must have touched a button she was not used to with her new Windows 10 and Microsoft Edge NEWS popped up with the first article shocking her.  “All my babies are dead”…her hand hesitated on the mouse for a split second and then she clicked.  A tragedy!  Preventable, unnecessary… drunk driving tragedy.  It was as if the weather of that nice evening walk home in the cool brisk air had changed dramatically.  This was why she no longer had television.  This was the reason she stopped purchasing newspapers 14 years ago but the internet still bled bad news.

home at twilight
sits with a midnight snack
and, then the storm broke
prays for those who’ll never rest
grieving for their babies

© Tournesol ’15

___________________________________________________

(haiku)

three dead children
parents’ limbs ripped of their souls
idle bicycles

a father,
a grandfather
gone forever

families,
communities and nations
grieve

the storm invaded,
addiction grabbed too many
victims

© Tournesol ’15

Haiku Horizons “storm”

Deva Premal – Gayatri Mantra

Oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ

tát savitúr váreṇ(i)yaṃ

bhárgo devásya dhīmahi

dhíyo yó naḥ pracodáyāt

We meditate on the glory of the Creator;
Who has created the Universe;
Who is worthy of Worship;
Who is the embodiment of Knowledge and Light;
Who is the remover of Sin and Ignorance;
May He open our hearts and enlighten our Intellect.

Tranquility (haibun)

SOURCE
Lillie McFerrin Writes

Jonathan sat on the curb and waited for someone to give him enough change to meet his quota so he could finally reach nirvana. The night had been so slow since the snowstorm had started up and “pedestrians were just rushing to get home in their nice dry, cozy homes” he snickered to himself with a bitterness that was not like him.

Nightfall came slowly and the only customers he got were the odd city maintenance men taking a break at MacDonald’s for a hot coffee after plowing the streets of Montreal most of the night.  He was shaking and knew he would not be able to tough the night here, so he dragged his shaky twig of a body to an air vent near the Métro Berri…just right to warm up enough and not die of hyperthermia.

Just as the sun was rising over the grey, damp and cold city, he woke up and walked over to rue St-Pierre to stand in line until le Centre du Petit Voyageur, a methadone clinic would open at nine o’clock,

killing a pain
an opiate buzz offers
tranquility

© Tournesol ’15

Five Sentence Fiction Open

Lillie McFerrin Writes

Motivation

Photo credits: KellieElmore http://kellieelmore.com
Photo credits: KellieElmore
http://kellieelmore.com

Photo credits: Kellie Elmore

James’ wife had left him and took the children too.  She told him it was no longer safe with his alcohol induced rages.  He lost his job. He still drank day after day, night after night. He’d finally hit the lowest of lows.  What could he do?  His friends shunned him, his family no longer trusted him and now he was alone.

James tried selling house items that might give him more cash for “drink” but soon there was little left.  He called his favourite aunt and asked for help.  She offered to bring him to hospital for detox and from there he would have to decide his future.   He called Alcoholics Anonymous.  He wanted his family back, he wanted his self-respect back…and that motivated him to work the programme (AA) until he could find the courage to ask his wife to take him back.

Every day he went to meetings.  His sponsor was a kind man and after 6 months, he offered James a good job.  He was originally a brilliant Chartered Accountant and his sponsor saw his potential in offering him this opportunity.

He worked long hours and continued with his meetings.  After he got his one year chip, James asked his wife if she would consider getting back with him so they could be a family again.  His love for his wife and family motivated him to persevere with this difficult struggle with addiction.

Many years passed and the family fell apart eventually again.  James had drifted into over working and dating many women.  He lived a single life far away from his family and over the years he slipped back into his addiction.  He’d been faced with adversity, pain and suffering and he could not handle it.

James eventually found his true love…his purpose to motivate him to stop drinking again.  His love for himself…to regain his self-respect he had to find love for self first.

The End.

© Cheryl-Lynn Roberts, January 4, 2014

Story prompted from DungeonPrompts, Season 2, Prompt #1 Motivation