the bottle is my conscience.

at times i don’t want to drink ⸻
i just want to hug it tight
like a warm blanket

and snap back from my
sober state into
drunk euphoria.

it has been with me
during troubled times
when money was low
and i became a sell-out
writing shitty lines;
fingered by the dark

i need this bottle
more than i need a
gentle hand or a
compassionate face

and now as the walls close in
vultures circle overhead
to feast on what’s left of me

a drink won’t save me
and i might die at the hands
of this bottle ⸻ or the world

but i want the fates to know
however i wronged the words
i want to be clean from sin
before the last flame
consumes my body.

Hanna Abi Akl is a Lebanese-born English writer. Hanna lived in Beirut before moving to France at the age of 25. He writes contemporary poetry and prose. When asked to define his style, he says the main ingredients to his works are “music, paintings and a little bit of literature.” You can follow him on Twitter @HannaAbiAkl.