LIQUID SOLACE

At day’s end, the world is heavy,

its weight pressing, unrelenting.

But then, just a taste

a slow burn blooming on the tongue,

and suddenly, nothing matters.

The past softens, the present sways,

laughter spills like a careless tide.

A warmth unfurls in hollow spaces,

turning sorrow into smoke,

turning pain into silence.

Floating now, untethered,

the mind drifts where worries cannot reach.

Time bends, the night blurs

sweet oblivion hums a lullaby,

whispering, stay here.

But morning arrives like a hammer,

a pounding, merciless reckoning.

The warmth has fled,

the silence is loud,

and the only way back

is another sip,

tonight.