"Already Gone" by Matthew Freeman

Red said yesterday

he wanted to get down

and do some real talk. I said

okay but I was nervous

as hell.

“Let me ask you,” he went.

“Are you losing your hearing

or is it that you just can’t pay attention?”

I sadly had

to admit that I couldn’t pay attention.

This morning it looked

like no one was around so I took a chance

and took my Diet Dr Pepper

to the front of Parkview Place

to smoke and listen to the Cure.

First someone came digging

through the ashtrays. I had to think,

ask and it shall be given unto you.

When they left someone else

came right out and asked me to roll one.

It wasn’t such a big deal. What

lyric was that?

But how long will this voice last?

And how long will the Cure last?

Matthew Freeman has been writing about his recovery from a dual diagnosis and his time spent at Parkview Place for longer than he would care to remember. His eighth book, Dopamine and the Devil, is soon to be published by Coffeetown Press. He holds an MFA from the University of Missouri-Saint Louis.