A tale of two habits

From a piece of poetry by Andrew Melhuish

Once upon a time there was a couple

who could no longer afford their addiction

so decided to make their own drugs

out of each other.

He took a strand of her hair and pressed the

end

to a vein on the inside of his elbow.

The hair was sucked inside and he fell asleep.

She ran her nails up and down the the dry skin of

his face

and piled the flakes on the kitchen table.

Dividing the pile into a few narrow lines she

breathed in

every bit of him

and sat awake for the rest of her life

waiting for his eyes to open