a concerning post By Stephen House

i know someone who posts on social media when they are blind drunk / they’re not a close friend but i have known them for many years / sometimes the post is taken down the next morning / so if i’m keen on reading it then it’s best to do so when it first goes up / i often like the posts they share / there is a stark honesty to them / and they can be funny and make me laugh / the posts can be risky too / in regards to politics and religion and sex and more / so much so that i have often thought they probably should not have been posted / it’s generally the risky posts that are taken down by the morning as they often attract a range of comments that can be tinged with anger or disgust but also with die-hard agreeance and applaud / i suppose one could ask how i know they are blind drunk when they post / i just know / decades ago i was a heavy drinker and i guess there are certain things i recognize / in those days i was around other big drinkers / there was a culture / a way of being and saying / i rarely drink now / one or two beers or a glass of wine / but that’s about it / i mostly like drinking water and coffee / a week or so ago i read a concerning blind drunk post from them / it was something about them having had enough of life and wanting to go / i read it several times and each time i did i found it more concerning / i decided to ring them on the social media phone contact / they were blind drunk and distressed / i told them that the post had concerned me and did they want to talk / they did want to and we did so for about forty minutes / they said they were not going to harm themselves and would go to bed after we had hung up the phone / in the morning the post was gone / but the next night they posted blind drunk again / though it was a funny post which made me laugh / not concerning at all / i hope they are ok / i might ring them again sometime / especially if i’m concerned //     

Stephen House has won awards and nominations as a poet, playwright, and actor. He’s been commissioned often, with 20 plays produced, many published by Australian Plays Transform, and produced nationally and internationally. He’s received international literature residencies from The Australia Council for the Arts to Canada and Ireland, and an Asialink residency to India. He’s had two chapbooks published by ICOE Press Australia: ‘real and unreal’ poetry and ‘The Ajoona Guest House’ monologue. His poetry is published often. He’s performed his acclaimed monologues widely. Stephen had a play run in Spain for 4 years.