True Story

Flattened back,
strapped down.
Force-fed tar
black, gritty, gross...
just a little sweet.

"He'll be fine.
We caught him fast enough.
It didn't get too far."
The doctor,
to Mother.

I heard sobs and shaking,
rolled my head back over,
tongue lolling half-out my mouth.
Brother, Dad. Mom consoling.

That's different than normal.

Life was real,
true, enough.
Couldn't laugh anymore
it was too much to force.

As I vomitted later,
the tar, the dissolved pills
the breakfast I'd eaten
(or, rather, drank)
my body felt crushed.

Unacceptable.
That's the right word.
It's all, just...
unacceptable.

Author notes

This, uh, actually happened (April, 2007). other than that, I don't feel like talking about it much. It was helpful to write, though, so thank you to the contest holder. It gave me inspiration to write.