if you give an addict tramadol

if you give an addict some tramadol
he'll take it for the pain
and when he takes it for the pain
he might remember how it feels
to float above his body
watchin his troubles shrink away

if he remembers how it feels
he might want to feel it longer
and if he wants to feel it longer
he might take two instead of one
or four instead of two

if he takes two instead of one
he'll need more when the prescription ends
and if he needs more when the prescription ends
he'll remember old friends with loose morals

If he calls those old friends
he'll find himself in someone’s house
with pills scattered on a table
percocet vicodin oxy
and if those aren’t enough
there's always a baggie of cocaine
tucked in someone's pocket

if he tries the cocaine
he'll need somethin to come down
and if he needs to come down
the xanax bars will appear
white and reliable
promisin dreamless sleep

if he takes the xanax
he'll wake up foggy
and reachin for a bottle of whiskey
to clear his head
and if he drinks the whiskey
he'll crave the bottle more than the pills

if he keeps spiralin
the whiskey won't be enough
and if whiskey isn't enough
he'll find himself with
vodka for breakfast
bourbon for lunch
tequila for dinner
blackouts for dessert

if the blackouts become routine
he'll wake up in strange places
park benches
hospital rooms
the drunk tank downtown
women's beds he doesn't recognize
never rememberin how he got there

if he keeps wakin up in women's beds
his wife will stop searchin for explanations
family photos will disappear from the walls
holidays will learn to happen without him
and divorce papers will wait
on a kitchen table he no longer sits at

if you give an addict some tramadol
he'll probably remember why he loved it
and if he remembers why he loved it
he'll probably forget why he stopped
and if he forgets why he stopped
he'll need to learn those lessons again

but this mouse has run that maze before
so I dumped the pills
and kept my life instead

some cookies just aren't worth the crumbs