Notice of absence from Tristan Robert Lange
Friends, I’m doing my best to keep up with comments. 😅 I’m still current on my own poems and first replies on others’ work, but this season has been a bit of a twister. Figured I’d drop a quick note so you don’t think I’ve vanished or gone flaky.
Read. Write. Rise. Realize. 🤘💀🖤
Friends, I’m doing my best to keep up with comments. 😅 I’m still current on my own poems and first replies on others’ work, but this season has been a bit of a twister. Figured I’d drop a quick note so you don’t think I’ve vanished or gone flaky.
Read. Write. Rise. Realize. 🤘💀🖤
Call it what you will—
Aggression against difference—
Laugh at it even. Mock sobriety.
Ignorance spews irony
Forever missed. Chuggers chant.
Overture of the pint glass crescendos,
Regarding no others in their wake.
Normalizing American sobriety
In place of better medications.
Aggravated alcohol agnosia.
Some have chosen to speak
Of sobriety as a thing to snub.
Best not accept the status quo,
Especially as it races toward a cliff.
Real recovery comes in many ways.
POET'S NOTE:
Part of the Truth, Applied collection.
© 2025 Tristan Robert Lange. All rights reserved.
First published on tristanrobertlange.com, March 27, 2026.
Tittu
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Author:
Tristan Robert Lange (
Offline) - Published: March 27th, 2026 07:52
- Comment from author about the poem: Did you know I also compose classical chamber music? My latest release, The Suffering Servant: A Meditation Cycle for Piano Trio, is coming soon under Appalachian Virtual Ensemble. Two movements are available to hear exclusively on my website. Preorders are now open. https://tristanrobertlange.com/2026/03/25/the-suffering-servant-pre-order-now-available/ ... I’m now published in an anthology featuring authors from across the Poconos, PA. All proceeds benefit the Pocono Liars Club — a collective of authors and editors dedicated to supporting and mentoring local writers. Available in paperback and Kindle, please consider purchasing one and supporting a great cause. https://a.co/d/58uxM69
- Category: Unclassified
- Views: 12
- Users favorite of this poem: Friendship, sorenbarrett, Demar Desu - 德马尔·德苏, Teddy.15
- In collections: Truth, Applied.
Offline)
Comments5
nicely said. Your poem revolves around addiction, recovery, and societal attitudes towards alcohol use and sobriety. It highlights the tension between societal expectations and personal choices regarding substance use.
Friendship, thank you, my friend…you really captured the heart of it. That push and pull between what’s normalized and what actually helps people…that’s the tension this sits in. I’m grateful you saw it so clearly. 🧠🕯️🙏🖤
This poem requires deep thought and an open mind. Addiction comes in many forms. Alcohol the most accepted and legal. "In place of better medications" a key line. Self medication is the answer for many. AA touted as the best treatment has an astonishing low recovery rate. What does that say of other methods? Beyond alcohol are addictions to things we do not usually consider, sex, even love, anger, depression all considered behaviors or emotions in normal amounts but addictions when overdone and relied upon. Alcohol itself an aggression or rebellion at times and a conformity at others. This poem is more complex than meets the eye. Nicely penned Tristan
Soren, thank you, my friend…you really expanded this in a meaningful way. Bringing in the broader scope of addiction and how it shifts between rebellion and conformity adds real weight. I’m especially glad that key line landed with you. Thank you so much, my friend. 🧠🕯️🙏🖤
Always a pleasure my friend
Now lookie here, Popeye never has agnosia, cos he recognises......what? WCAT! lol.
Orchidee, haha…this is great. Popeye dodging agnosia and landing on WCAT again…what ever can we do to stop them?. 🤣 🧠🕯️🙏🖤
And now in a nightmare, we hear the sound - glug! lol.
Well said, Sir. an ongoing respectful relationship with alcohol requires continued attention and effort on my part.
PS Why single out California? (I've only recently become aware of your propensity to include an unannounced acrostic in your work, Tristan)
Dave, thank you, my friend…there’s a lot of honesty in what you said about maintaining that relationship with alcohol. That awareness matters. While I drank, it was a lot of effort for me too, and I lost that awareness in the end. Now, on the California point…it’s a phrase tied to stepping away from alcohol while still using cannabis…something more common in places where it’s legal, like California, where some are choosing to drink less or not at all. It’s often used dismissively…which is exactly the hypocrisy this piece is calling out. Glad you caught the acrostic too…always appreciate you reading closely. 🧠🕯️🙏🖤
Isn't it odd that even I have friends who are T-total, and are fround upon when there is a celebration, not everyone likes alcohol, there are those who like it a little too much and then there's me 🤣 lol
Teddy, you’re absolutely right…it is strange how not drinking can still get people looked at sideways, especially in social settings. I’ve been on the side of liking it a bit too much myself, so I understand that pull. It’s a tension people don’t always talk about honestly. Thanks again, my friend! 🤣 🧠🕯️🙏🖤
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