Chasing The Dragon Poem by Eric Paeplow

Days and nights of untold dreams
Cast in shadows, to those that seem
To live and love and pass the days
Each in their own, separate ways

Yet no one knows who I really am
As I hide myself, behind a sham
Of smiles and grins and laughs out loud
To hide the pain, that I feel inside

As I spend my days, inside my head
And live a life, I've grown to dread
Of pain and loss and tortured souls
As I live within, these tattered walls

While friends and foes, come to me
To get the fix, that sets them free
As I take their cash, for booze and bread
To quell the thoughts, within my head

While I plan and scheme, to get away
From the deeds I've done and those who prey
Upon the weak, upon the strong
And those who think, they‘ve done nothing wrong

While they fill their nose and lungs with pain
And a needle stuck, into their vein
To get that fix, to stop the pain
Of those they've hurt and those they blame

For the life they have, the friends they've lost
While finding ways, to bear the cost
To get that fix, that makes them high
To forget their woes, or need to cry

About the life, they chose to live
And all the things, they've had to give
To fill their need, for that buzz filled head
Until the day, they wind up dead