The Addict

What does
The so-called addict
Truly know —
If not this
In his bones and marrow —

That he has —
Absolutely zero control
That’s what any honest
Clear-eyed, self-respecting addict knows

And all those
Whoever they are, in whatever guise —
Who attempt to cure, treat, or rid
The addict of his addiction —

Must, by necessity
Presume control
They must inculcate in the addict
A belief
The so-called empowerment—
That he is —
In control

In other words,
What the addict knows—
From direct, lived experience
In his bones and marrow —

He must
To be cured —
Absurdly reframe his powerlessness
As agency
A control that coexists
With powerlessness itself

Enacting a contradiction, performing self betrayal
He must
Unknow, deny and uproot
What he knows
And set himself against that knowing
Creating the most profound split
Within his being
In order to be cured
Of his addiction

Can it be anything —
But violence

And who, truly
Operates from the undeniable
Immutable reality of existence —

The addict
Or those prescribing control