"Czech Train Pain"

I've just pretended to be asleep
A real life nightmare of hell
Glimpsing back to my drinking past
A sight I knew too well.
First I nearly missed my train from Trebic
Not expecting it to be one car
Then three drunks sat next to me
Smelling like they'd demolished a bar.
That's a slight exaggeration
For they stink of the street
Luckily they don't speak English
As I look down at my feet.
I go away on holiday
To pat myself on the back
A birthday treat for staying sober
And trying to get my life on track.
Now there's three foreign pissheads
Pricking my conscience with fear
It's like staring at a mirror
If I'd stayed on the beer.
I know my life's not perfect
But it's come on leaps and bounds
Sobriety's opened up a world for me
Of European hockey and football grounds.
Now the drunks have left me
I can breathe and count to ten
Their stench is still around me
I don't want to go through that again.
If I am being honest
My nerves are a little in shreds
I am desperate for the safety
Of my dorm of hostel beds.
Over twelve years without a drink
I'm shocked I'm mentally weak
Such a random incident
Causing my willpower to creak.
But today I won't pick up alcohol
And tomorrow will be the same again
Right now I'm being protected by the sobriety armoury
That's my notebook and poetry pen.

Dulwich Poet 27th October 2014

(I was in a one carriage train, going from Trebic to Brno, which was packed. I moved seats, when someone got off, to get some room, when three very drunk people got on, and tried to offer me drink, and 'engage' in conversation. It made me very uneasy, but they got off after a couple of stops)