How do you help
loved ones that
insist on 
tap dancing
with the demon 
of addiction?

I want to scold
them like a child
for their own good,

but I know it 
would fall
on deaf ears.

I want to hold them
tight, tell them
everything will
be alright, but
they aren't buying 
that lie.

Is my only option
to waltz around 
my candy-coated world 
and watch them
self-destruct?

It is the most 
helpless feeling,

like seeing a 
ballet dancer
with bloody feet,

watching addiction
slowly suffocate
a soul, making
them feel less
than zero.

How do I help
them see a 
world of love 
and light
just beyond
the shadows. 

Help them 
understand
addiction is 
just a way to
hide the pain
that keeps us 
sleepwalking 
through life
with limited 
options.

While sobriety 
is raw, real, 
and limitless.
  
How do I help
them know that
the wolf you
feed is the
one that grows.

All I can do
is pray they 
somehow make
the choice 
of awareness
and reach out
to get the help 
they need before 
the danse macabre
sweeps them away
from family and
friends who love
them beyond their
comprehension,
and a world that
needs their story
of survival to 
make the most
of what this one 
lion dance life 
has to give.