As someone who has wrestled with the stuff before (and has family members who didn't quite win their battle with it), this piece did a very good job of capturing the allure, but also the broken promise, of such things like alcohol.
It's easy to sit back, clear-headed, and understand why it's not good for you. It's harder when you're in its clutches, to tell yourself that you don't need it. It's like it changes your brain chemistry, like it had a mind of its own that overrides yours.
It's better to just keep it at arm's length or never touch it at all. You can have control over it, but the scary thing is that it can just as easily have control over you. I feel like your piece here captured both sides of that equation well.
You make a really good point about that struggle. Since I haven't actually had that struggle myself, I wasn't really keeping that part in mind as much when I was talking about my experience writing the poem. Thank you for sharing this, Bradley. You bring a lot of great insight
I'm not a big drinker either. It really isn't my jam. I have champagne occasionally.
You can be social & not drink. You can choose to not drink. The pressure could be more helpful, to be more compassionate...not drinking like everyone else.
i love how this perspective diverges from many of the sobriety takes i’ve come across in the past few months. alcohol is such an integral part of our social culture, especially in the west and i think it’s refreshing to read a take by someone who feels naturally averse to liquor. i’ve been sober for 6 weeks so far and this piece reminded me that there are many people out there who refuse to subscribe to this religion-like praise of alcohol & the culture that surrounds it. thanks for sharing hazel !!!
Yeah I'm glad to see that you liked it! For me what defines my relationship with something, is how does the experience go the first time I try it. Good or bad? My first experience ended up being what I consider bad: getting black out drunk, waking up, puking all over my brother's couch, and passing out again. Just because of that alone, I've always had this mental barrier between alcohol and I.
And yeah, the taste of it sucks. I thought I was making progress on it recently with Arizona hard teas, but then I started feeling repulsed to those even. So, it's just not really for me. But like I said, that's okay. It doesn't have to be.
It really is such a large integral part of our social culture here, I definitely agree with that. I'm really happy I was able to provide a perspective differing from what you're used to seeing. That means a lot to me honestly <3
I too have never found much alcohol I like. It must be sweet and enjoyable or it’s not worth it to me. I have on occasion liked iris coffee, or a sweet plum wine. But I don’t drink in social occasions, and believe if I want to drown out the world a hot jacuzzi and a nap always do the trick.
I also believe those who drink to drown out the world have deeper issues that need to be addressed and drinking just adds to problems and delays any progress.
This captures the weight of that moment—the pull of self-destruction and the quiet realization that it doesn’t quite fit. Haunting yet strangely hopeful, like teetering on the edge but choosing to step back. Brilliantly written. Especially after knowing the process of how you wrote this.
I respect the process you took to get this done. Perhaps we won’t fully grasp the feeling without experiencing it ourselves, but the poem beautifully portrays the push and pull of letting go and restraint. It feels like a moment suspended in time—someone standing at the edge, uncertain whether to fall or step back. That lingering 'next time' carries so much weight, as if self-destruction is a choice they keep almost making but never quite committing to. It’s a powerful and unsettling tension. And that, to me, is beautifully executed.
As someone who has wrestled with the stuff before (and has family members who didn't quite win their battle with it), this piece did a very good job of capturing the allure, but also the broken promise, of such things like alcohol.
It's easy to sit back, clear-headed, and understand why it's not good for you. It's harder when you're in its clutches, to tell yourself that you don't need it. It's like it changes your brain chemistry, like it had a mind of its own that overrides yours.
It's better to just keep it at arm's length or never touch it at all. You can have control over it, but the scary thing is that it can just as easily have control over you. I feel like your piece here captured both sides of that equation well.
You make a really good point about that struggle. Since I haven't actually had that struggle myself, I wasn't really keeping that part in mind as much when I was talking about my experience writing the poem. Thank you for sharing this, Bradley. You bring a lot of great insight
I'm not a big drinker either. It really isn't my jam. I have champagne occasionally.
You can be social & not drink. You can choose to not drink. The pressure could be more helpful, to be more compassionate...not drinking like everyone else.
To be fair I'm neither social nor a drinker really haha, but your point still stands
i love how this perspective diverges from many of the sobriety takes i’ve come across in the past few months. alcohol is such an integral part of our social culture, especially in the west and i think it’s refreshing to read a take by someone who feels naturally averse to liquor. i’ve been sober for 6 weeks so far and this piece reminded me that there are many people out there who refuse to subscribe to this religion-like praise of alcohol & the culture that surrounds it. thanks for sharing hazel !!!
Yeah I'm glad to see that you liked it! For me what defines my relationship with something, is how does the experience go the first time I try it. Good or bad? My first experience ended up being what I consider bad: getting black out drunk, waking up, puking all over my brother's couch, and passing out again. Just because of that alone, I've always had this mental barrier between alcohol and I.
And yeah, the taste of it sucks. I thought I was making progress on it recently with Arizona hard teas, but then I started feeling repulsed to those even. So, it's just not really for me. But like I said, that's okay. It doesn't have to be.
It really is such a large integral part of our social culture here, I definitely agree with that. I'm really happy I was able to provide a perspective differing from what you're used to seeing. That means a lot to me honestly <3
I loved the form you chose for this one. And your imagery is always rich. 💜
Thank you! I really like the form I chose for it too <3
I too have never found much alcohol I like. It must be sweet and enjoyable or it’s not worth it to me. I have on occasion liked iris coffee, or a sweet plum wine. But I don’t drink in social occasions, and believe if I want to drown out the world a hot jacuzzi and a nap always do the trick.
I also believe those who drink to drown out the world have deeper issues that need to be addressed and drinking just adds to problems and delays any progress.
This captures the weight of that moment—the pull of self-destruction and the quiet realization that it doesn’t quite fit. Haunting yet strangely hopeful, like teetering on the edge but choosing to step back. Brilliantly written. Especially after knowing the process of how you wrote this.
I respect the process you took to get this done. Perhaps we won’t fully grasp the feeling without experiencing it ourselves, but the poem beautifully portrays the push and pull of letting go and restraint. It feels like a moment suspended in time—someone standing at the edge, uncertain whether to fall or step back. That lingering 'next time' carries so much weight, as if self-destruction is a choice they keep almost making but never quite committing to. It’s a powerful and unsettling tension. And that, to me, is beautifully executed.