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High on Kai
Contributed by
karl_wiggins
on
Wednesday, 3rd March 2004 @ 07:07:16 PM in AEST
Topic:
EmotionalPoetry
|
Dave died last year.
He was only 47,
And he was my cousin.
We played together as boys,
And now he’s dead.
I went to the funeral.
Everyone talked about this dreadful disease,
Without naming it.
Go on, say the words
Say it
This awful disease.
No! Say the words.
It hasn’t been easy.
Say the words!
He was a drunk!
An alcoholic
A boozer
A brown bagger
An elbow bender
An alcoholic
A head.
He didn’t have the strength to carry his shopping upstairs.
His son found him once
Naked on the kitchen floor.
Blood pouring out of every orifice.
He saved his life,
For a while.
He was famous, Dave.
He once welcomed Gazza to a rehab centre.
If that makes you famous.
BUPA were paying the bill,
For a while.
He actually was famous.
“One of the finest British orchestral trumpeters
Of his generation.”
Co-principal trumpet
Of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
For more than 15 years.
He also had his own jazz band.
The London Tijuana Show Band.
He played all over the world
Even Carnegie Hall, New York,
Where he earned “particular critical acclaim.”
What a talent.
What a waste.
Two weeks ago,
Rob drove his truck into a mountain in Hawaii.
He broke his neck
And received over 250 stitches in his face and head.
Old Rob, man.
You know he was drunk.
Yeah,
He has vodka for breakfast.
Years on the road together
And he drives his truck into a bloody mountain.
We went through a few days of hell.
Wondering if he’d be paralysed.
Or remain in a coma.
Or not even make it.
How could he not see a bleeding mountain?
Did someone paint one of those tunnels on it, or something?
Like in the cartoons,
You know.
Rob’s one of the lucky ones.
His neck’s broke,
But not the cord.
And only about 150 of the stitches are in his face.
I spoke to him two days ago.
He’s messed up, but okay.
He sounded .....
Thoughtful.
And now I’ll mention Peter.
Because he’s hooked on heroin.
And do you know the real problem with heroin?
It's that it doesn't always kill you
Sometimes it leaves you alive.
A wife and two lovely girls.
Twins.
Yet he hasn’t paid the rent
Or the car
Or naff all.
And he’s stealing money from Louise.
So I phoned Craig.
"How do you get someone off smack?"
You don’t.
"Come on, help me out here."
Karl, stay away from this.
"There must be something we can do."
There’s not.
Heroin is a lovely, lovely drug
And it’s very affordable
Stay away from this, Karl
You’ve got a family
You don’t need them to be around stuff like this
"But he’s an old pal."
Sod him, Karl
Grass him up
Send him to jail.
"But he can get drugs in jail."
He can also get treatment
They’ll give him methadone
It’ll mess him up
But if he’s on smack he’s already messed up
What about his family?
"They’ve left him."
Yeah, figures.
"Craig, help me out here
He’s an old pal
I care about him."
Of course we care about him, Karl
He’s a human being
But you don’t need to get involved in this.
"What needs to be done, though?"
You take everything off him
Clothes and everything
Leave him bollock naked
He’ll go through hell
See things that aren’t there
Scary things
There’ll be shouting and shrieking
Screaming like you’ve never heard
Kai doesn’t need to be around that stuff.
"Well, I wouldn’t invite him here, of course."
Don’t Karl
He’ll steal from you
The best place for him is where he can get treatment
And that’s in jail.
So I phoned Vini.
"Yo, Vin!"
Hey, buddy
How’s my little nephew, Kai?
"Pining for his Uncle Vini in New York, man
How are my two little nieces?"
Adorable.
"Vini, man, you must be so proud."
Ain’t they the best?
"Are you kidding?
I’ve got Kai down to marry both of them!"
Hey, I don’t have a problem with that.
"Vin, can I ask you something?"
Sure.
"How do you get someone off smack?"
Oh, boy.
Is it denying it?
"Yup."
He’s not admitting to it?
"Nope."
Is he telling lies?
"Yeah."
Is he stealing money yet?
"Yeah."
Is he stealing from his family yet?
"Yeah."
Has his family left him yet?
"Yeah."
Oh, boy
(Vini knows more about Peter than I do!
And he hasn’t even met him!)
Is he a good friend?
"He’s not tight like you and me, but ....."
The treatment’s methadone
The trouble is
They get hooked on the methadone
You got an uphill struggle, Karl
If you get involved in that.
"I’m not getting involved, mate
I’m just asking for his family’s sake."
They gotta tie him to the bed
Go cold turkey
It’s awful
Why do people do that to themselves, eh?
Why can’t they just drink a couple of beers?
Smoke a little weed?
Get a little high?
You know?
"Yeah!
I get high on Kai, man.
I get high on Kai and Sue.
I get high taking him over the park
With that baseball bat you bought him
And the catcher's mit."
How’s he doin’?
"He’s doing great, man.
He doesn’t hit it often,
But he’s keeping his elbow up
Like you showed him."
That’s good.
"I get high just being around Kai, Vin.
He's my best mate.
I'd rather chill with him than anyone.
I get high just going swimming with him.
He’s the fastest swimmer in his class,
And he’s the youngest.
He’s joined stagecoach,
Which is like singing and dancing
And he loves it.
He does a little routine to S Club 7’s “Reach”
He’s so cute.
I wasn’t too sure how I felt about it at first
I’d rather he learn Tae Kwon Do or something,
But he seems to enjoy it."
If he’s having fun
That’s all that counts.
"Vini, I get high just being around the little bloke.
Having a pillow fight before bed,
Wrestling on the floor,
Climbing trees,
Talking in the car together,
Reading stories at night,
Cuddling up in bed together,
Playing headers in the lounge with a blow-up ball,
Taking him to school.
"Kai’s my high, man,
I get high on Kai.
I’m no angel,
I drink a little
But never off the top shelf,
And I don’t do drugs.
I get high on Kai!
"I’d like to tell the whole world to
Get high on the Kai in their own lives!"
You could do it, man
Write a song about it.
"I can’t write music."
So write the words
Someone else will write the music.
So here’s to you, world.
With sincerest wishes
That you all get high on the Kai in your own lives.
Copyright ©
karl_wiggins
... [
2004-03-03 19:07:16]
(Date/Time posted on
site)
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Re: High on Kai
(User Rating: 1 )
by Kie on
Wednesday, 3rd March 2004 @ 09:32:59 PM AEST
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a Message)
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| Informative, insightful, detailed and a great read. Kie |
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Re: High on Kai
(User Rating: 1 )
by Former_Member on
Thursday, 4th March 2004 @ 12:07:41 AM AEST
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a Message)
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A Kie is the greatest gift in life you will ever receive. It amazes me that with all the wrongs we do that God still gives us the greatest gifts.
Rita |
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