Don't Write About the Bottle

[Nathan]

Don’t write about the bottle
The one in front of you
That’s almost empty

A cigarette hangs from your lips
Your tongue slices
Through prose
You keep reading it back to yourself
It’s mad

Stop writing to yourself
It’s not going to fix anything
And you sound like a damn fool

No one wants to be in your head
No one wants to know your delusions
Your self-obsession
Your grandeur
These words won’t save you

But they bleed
The fluid won’t give up
The fire burns
Boils my fingers
They refuse to stop

My skin shakes off my knuckles
And splits down and takes away my finger nails
They excite the bugs of summer
Gnats and flies worship

I take a sip
And write about the bottle