One

Only one, he said
but another one came
and another
soon he could not see anything
only blurred images came
and went
his balance was a bit off
but he took the key anyway,
he drove home intoxicate
veer here and there
off the road at times
the key still in his hand
the wheel rolling left to right
right to left and center
nothing could stopped him
there was no reasoning
in his inebriated brain
his thoughts were submerged
deep down at the bottom
in the dark were the sharks swim
and no stars shine.
At times he disappeared
hours, days, weeks
but he was always found
in the garbage dump
on a street corner,
in someone's house
but he always came back.
He was a drunk
once, twice, three times
even more
but he was a good man
even when his thoughts
were not clear and his
speech was a slur
Only one, he said
but another one came
and another
soon the bottle was empty
so was his life
he was a drunk
who thought he could only
take one
but we knew otherwise