E24 The Drunkard’s Child by Francis Ellen Watkins Harper

Send us Fan MailDescription: An immersive reading of The Drunkard’s Child by Francis Ellen Watkins Harper with reflection on alcohol use disorder, repression, and change. Website:https://anauscultation.wordpress.com/ Work: The Drunkard’s Child by Francis Ellen Watkins HarperHe stood beside his dying child,With a dim and bloodshot eye;They'd won him from the haunts of viceTo see his first-born dieHe came with a slow and staggering tread,A vague, unmeaning stare,And, reeling, clasped the clammy hand,So deathly pale and fair.In a dark and gloomy chamber,Life ebbing fast away,On a coarse and wretched pallet,The dying sufferer lay:A smile of recognitionLit up the glazing eye;“I'm very glad,” it seemed to say,“You've come to see me die.”That smile reached to his callous heart,Its sealed fountains stirred;He tried to speak, but on his lipsFaltered and died each word.And burning tears like rainPoured down his bloated face,Where guilt, remorse and shameHad scathed, and left their trace.“My father!” said the dying child,(His voice was faint and low,)“Oh! clasp me closely to your heart,And kiss me ere I goBright angels beckon me away,To the holy city fair—Oh! tell me, Father, ere I go,Say, will you meet me there?”He clasped him to his throbbing heart,“I will! I will!” he said;His pleading ceased—the father heldHis first-born and his dead!The marble brow, with golden curls,Lay lifeless on his breast;Like sunbeams on the distant cloudsWhich line the gorgeous west.References:Frances Ellen Watkins Harper:  https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/frances-ellen-watkins-harper The Drunkard’s Child: https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=z0vmxcwxlrEC&pg=GBS.PA2&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=en  Driessen E, Hollon SD. Cognitive behavioral therapy for mood disorders: efficacy, moderators and mediators. Psychiatr Clin North Am. 2010;33(3):537-555. Fairbanks J, Umbreit A, Kolla BP, et al. Evidence-Based Pharmacotherapies for Alcohol Use Disorder: Clinical Pearls. Mayo Clin Proc. 2020;95(9):1964-1977.