Onlookers

But for every man who drinks others are involved - the wife who trembles in fear of the next debauch; the mother and father who see their son wasting away. ~ ​Alcoholics Anonymous, ​page 104

Those who stand and watch.
Innocent victims or cause and effect,
addiction may seem a lonely state
but each stands surrounded
by a second tier. Chicken or egg,
environment or genetics,
sickness runs rampant in kin.
Symptoms vary from father's booze
to mother's pills, brother's gambling,
sister's bingeing, aunt restricting food...
the home stands a hospital
filled with helpless, powerless folks.

A flaxen aura emanates once recovery
sets down tentative tendrils of root,
grows with serenity when fears fade,
fills the home, the telephone lines,
and proves faith, surrender, love
spread through families as well.