Sacrifice. By Dennis Moriarty

Oh high priest of opioids, tonight
My pain is sacrificial
And I offer it up without reservation.
Hold me upside down
Until I dangle above the chalice,
Force my stare down
Into the hall marked darkness below.

Watch me squirm and flap like a chicken,
Hear me squawk and cluck,
As I cling on to the light yet all the time
Craving the promise
Of oblivion you made me.
Oh, high priest of opioids, you have gave
Me your word.

And I in turn will watch as you free the dagger
From it’s blistered sheath
And hone the blade on the tip of your tongue
Until it flashes
And sparkles like diamonds in the whites
Of my eyes.
Hold me while I spin and twitch

My pain bleeding out to mingle with the
Hall marked darkness in the chalice.
And when the codeine turns to morphine,
The morphine to manic laughter,
I will thank you profusely for keeping
Your promise,
After all, pain is a sacrifice worth making.

Dennis Moriarty was born in London, England and now lives in Wales. Married with five grown up offspring Dennis likes walking the dog in the mountains, reading and writing.
In 2017 he won the Blackwater poetry competition and went to county Cork in Ireland to read his work at the international poetry festival. Dennis has had poems featured in many publications including Blue nib, Our poetry archive, Setu bilingual, The passage between and others.