Poetry by Kyle Ulrich

    liebeslakritze CC





born bad vol. 1-5 how to get right, regroup and 
buy time. except, the opposite of that. volume one. 
be born into this world to someone that didn’t want you. 
that's number one. be a problem in all things, 
number two. will we be on time, how do we get 
there, does it cost more. searing memories of 
arguments, fighting and crying melted down right 
into the middle of you. from the start she drilled it 
in that you were her biggest mistake: she has no 
choice but to raise you. one year later, you have a 
brother. volume two. he needs love, he’s that kind 
of person, he needs it. love might’ve saved him. 
look at us. look at you. you're fucking bipolar dude. 
lol you went thirty-two years undiagnosed, you 
wandering manic lunatic. volume three. all these 
years, you’re going up and down, everybody sees 
it. you're depressed, like mega-depressed for 
weeks at a time, before you’re hyper and sweaty 
and up all night. i think it gets caught early on with 
most kids but you weren’t raised right. no one gave 
a shit about you. volume four. dependency on 
drugs and alcohol. you drank yourself into poor 
health. see your face peel down from the wall you 
ran up against. your twenties were wiped out, foot 
on the gas, asleep at the wheel. you'd quit drinking 
in 2017 after three hospitalizations. how the light 
got in thru the tiniest of margins. volume five. 
you've been sober for six years. drinking is like a 
ghost in the mirror, one day it was everything then 
another it’s gone. you think it’s pretty. call it 
getting clean, but every step is heavy with grime. 
the payoff is, you walk a mile like that and you’ll 
come out stronger than you could imagine. so 
where do we go from here? up, dude. it's all 
around you. see him get right. regroup. buy time. 
see him chase life. 

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Kyle Ulrich is a poet and illustrator from Chicago, IL. He plays modular synth with his friend Steve.