Whiskey

What's most revolting
Repulsive, odious, loathsome
Noxious, soul-crushing, corrosive
Pestilent — abhorrent —
Of all human activities —

Hearing someone
Talk about themselves

How can anyone, day after day
Bear to hear someone talk —
Who they were, what they did
What they thought
Where they went, what they said
What others said of them
What they replied
And what became
Of all of it

Of them — of others
For what they did
Said, thought
For what they were

And yet —
So many crave only this
To talk about themselves

They call it
Venting
Off-loading
Therapy

Just listen, they say
Let the old man talk
About his days long past
He is old; show some care
He just wants to vent
To off-load
To get it off his chest

He just wants to know
Someone's there —
That he's not alone
That people care
About his talking —

His worries, pains, trials and triumphs
His memories, stories from bygone times
His relations with this one
And that
His thoughts about
This and that

So you listen —
Listen to people
Their woes, their stories
Their miseries, their pains

Years — decades
You do this
At work, at home

And you start to see the muck —
The neck-deep filth
That fills your waking hours:
Endless narratives
People weave
To cocoon
Nothing underneath

You begin to sense, smell and see
From a mile away —
The voices of demons
Possessing them

And rather than exorcise
You let the demon talk — because
You are supposed to listen
Not shake them free
Not perform witchcraft

And you see the entire structure —
Families, friends, parents, children
Social media
Counsellors, therapists, psychiatrists
Mentors, teachers —
The entire structure of civilisation —
Built to pamper
Mollycoddle, reinforce
Reward and worship
The most disgusting falsehood

What do you do —
Switch off everything —
Draw your curtains —
Go to the mountains —
Away
From all things
Of man

Only — if only —
You could
But you can't

So —
Why not —
Whiskey