I want to like her but she drinks too much,
and isn’t near as fun to be around
as she must think she is. She’s apt to touch
me needlessly, repeat herself, expound
on criticisms victims overhear,
embarrass me and shame herself of course,
while steadily refusing to appear
contrite, or learn, or even feel remorse.

She’s rarely well and searches for a cure
in homeopathy and supplements.
She blames her sorry state on wheat, or thinks
the newest virus theory is for sure
the cause of her disease – that’s her defense:
it blocks her from regarding how she drinks.