Heroine Heroin

I’m a mistake cloaked in compassion,
I linger in your hallways, inhale your musky scent;
Cigarettes and oil;
I swallow your leftovers and amble in your stilted shadows;
Your anointed nymph, forever waiting
For your recovery.

But she waits too, with needles and tar.
A spineless debutante, caressing you with necrosis  
Replete with corpulent tranquilizers,
Unconditional numbness and love.
She’s a lumbering beast
With a fistful of pills and rancor.
And I understand
Why you choose her.