Sobriety Refused Poem by O Sudhir Janardhanan

Drowning on caliginous clouds
pitchy at the sides
everywhere, in the middle of nowhere.
I wake up to obscure thud
somewhere deep inside me
that intermittently repeats itself.
A discontinuous hum
not salvaged but ebbs to flow.
The eight legged crawl drums its path
across me - meeting, mating, multiplying
to tap all over me
Behind eyes screaming to stay shut,
on dilated pupils stars roam
aimlessly, blinking without
rhyme, reason or cause.
The bottle now drained of whisky,
left stale on my tongue,
lies close to me near at the corner;
neck inviting to be caressed.
To drive an acrid passage
through my heart, burning
entrails, a way to settle in my gut
The empty bottle mouths
questions I had shut out soused
in the void that I made.
I reach forward, my hands
seeking another unopened answer
to drown the answers
before; my senses inquisitive,
drive me to start reminiscing and thinking
Lost in love... I never have a hangover,


I just refuse to be sober...