Any man who attends Al-Anon meetings on a regular basis will hear stories of abuse told by women. These women speak in barely audible tones as they effect a vacant look...a sort of common glassy-eyed stare into the middle of the room. When this happens it always gets really quiet in the meeting room.
Yes, we learn that alcoholism is a disease, and we work hard at accepting that the alcoholic's first loss when alcohol reaches the brain is his or her judgement. We all know that this deadening of the humanizing chips leads to unpredictable behavior, emotional outbursts...the usual chaos that is so often ultimately resolved by atrip to the ER and/or the police station. But the devestation affected on an overpowered codependent family member is hard to witness without deeply felt sympathy.
After hearing one of these stories one night at a meeting I went home and wrote this blues.
P.S. Soon you will be able to download a digital sound file and listen to this song. In the meantime, please enjoy the lyrics as a poem.
Long Damned Gone
Copyright 1990 by Ken P.
Pain don't im-press me.
At least its fa-miliar.
And rain, rain don't rush me.
A wo-man can on-ly get so wet.
There was a time you could hold me.
Less with love, more with an-ger.
But I sur-vive with the dan-ger,
Because I'm Long, Long Damned Gone!
At first I cried to my Mama, cried to my pa,
Cried to the neighbors, I e-ven cri-ed to God.
(spoken, "...and everbody but God said things like")
"That man's your hus-band, the marks don't show,
He's got a good job, where would you go?"
Oh where, God where, would I go?
Framed by my family,
Betrayed by the system.
Can some-one some how help me,
And how man-y more women out there like me?
There was a time, we were silent.
Ground our teeth in our pil-lows.
Hey mis-ter some, now are wid-ows,
And now we're long, Long Damned Gone.
In-side we're Long,
Long Damned Gone.
Inside
(spoken..."and someday outside too")
We will be long, long, long,
Damned Gone!
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form