Geography of Relapse

My books are available on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/stores/Thomas-W.-Case/author/B0CL2RKDGX?ref=sr

I still remember that beige wall phone
in the house on Payne Avenue.

I called the number from the yellow pages,
back when pages still meant something.

The voice on the other end
checked my insurance
like it was summer heat,
like it was nothing unusual.

Can you be at the airport in a few hours?

I said yes.

The wife wanted me to do something
about my drinking.

Florida waited through the clouds
like a different life
I didn’t deserve yet.

Boca Raton.
Three weeks of borrowed clarity.

Salt air.
White light.
Humid nights.

People trying to put themselves
back together
without admitting they were broken.

And the scars lay deep.

Once I made it through detox
and the withdrawals,
I traded in my pajamas
for swim trunks.

We went to the beach every day.
The water was warm.
Too warm, to be honest.

Like a bubble bath away from home,
clear enough to see your own mistakes
floating just beneath you.

Little strange lizards everywhere,
darting like thoughts
you can’t quite hold onto.

First time I’d ever seen them.
First time for a lot of things.

All the meals were spread out
like a Roman buffet.

I got needed nutrition,
and listened more than I spoke.

I met people who looked like they
understood
the language of destruction,
and I learned things
I didn’t yet know how to use.

The sun didn’t ask questions.
It just kept showing up,
giving me a healthy glow.

On the flight home,
I drank quietly,
like nothing had changed
except geography.

I figured it was a needed break,
and I would control it better.
Wouldn’t let it dig its claws in,
grow wings, and take flight.

Author's Note

Just posted a brand-new long-form poetry reading on my YouTube channel! In this session
Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFGFJcFzKfY

My books are also available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Thomas-W.-Case/author/B0CL2RKDGX?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=xsU45&content

Thank you for reading, listening, and supporting poetry—it means the world!

Reviews

[Michael Sun Bear]

I remember folks in detox who told stories of prior detoxes where they got high as soon as they were out the door, often after leaving AMA. I never relapsed that fast but fast enough, and hey I sure know those lies we tell ourselves. I laughed a little when you described meals. They practically force food on you and monitor how much you eat in every detox unit I ever visited. Anyway,I did, as usual, enjoy your writing here.

[Thomas W Case]

I appreciate you.

[red93]

All part of the journey Thomas, and you handle this piece well. We have one guy in the Shared House currently who is a recovering alcoholic - regrettably he is not recovering quickly enough, and he is liable to be evicted soon. If I am honest, I prefer the Poems where you are on the front-line, battling yr demons, and really exposing the massive, pernicious, malign falsehood and deception of 'the American Dream'. But still, Exceptional ✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️

[Thomas W Case]

Thank you, my friend.

[Soren]

This is a perspective that people that have not gone through addiction and detox do not understand and never will. Nicely written Thomas

[Thomas W Case]

Thank you, my friend.