Playing in the Band

mike played guitar
pete played bass
I played drums

when we started out
they were 16
i was 15
they were dedicated
to their instruments
and blew me away

we had our first beers
at 17

but at 19
they started taking
drugs

their behavior
started changing
(I thought for the better)
the shows really amped up
and we were kicking ass

besides drugs
mike started drinking heavily
on a daily basis

so over time
their focus left them
like a girlfriend who ran
off with someone else

coke and alcohol started to
possess each one
       to the point I barely
recognized them

twenty years later
mike wound up dying of
alcohol dementia
(Korsakoff Syndrome)
I noticed he couldn't always
remember my name
than started mentioning things
that never happened

pete died of a stroke

the music died to

it's as though the contract
they signed up for
had clauses
they didn't know about

I watched them
deteriorate
until their inspiration
divorced them

until their lives were
no longer in control

until
their heartbeats
slowly ran out

like wound up
metronomes