Night breaks
And a bone-white hand
Reaches for an empty container of pills
On a bare bedside table

Then sighs in realization
Afraid of the pain
And the nightmares
He looks back
At his torn clothes and tattered sheets

He knows leaving for the pharmacy
Would be a futile effort

Climbing down
Into the blank recess of his mind
He slumps back in his chair
Staring still at the empty wall
Waiting