Addicted

I am one who numbs their minds

I dulls their senses

And I entrap their souls.

I am the one who who controls their every waking moment

I determine their fates

And I decide their every move.

I am the one who breaks them down

I play a game of chess with their lives

And I throw them away like lowly pawns.

They flock to me, the ignorant fools. 

Every new hour brings a fresh set of faces. 

They come to me on their knees and hand me their lives.

They hide their faces behind the clouds of metal tinged smoke I give them.

They sputter and cough and reach their arms out for more. 

I have them grasped between my wretched fingers.

I will never let them go. 

I thrill them once, twice and then they are mine. 

I breathe life into them for only but a moment

Then I snatch it away.

Leaving only hollow shells and empty eyes behind.

It is too late for them now. 

They rest in my arms with glassy stares. 

I have stolen their essence. 

They will never be free. 

I will keep them on a string

Strung just far enough that I can always pull them back.

There will be no recovery for these sad souls.

No paradise. 

Only death.