Sometimes, the most powerful things we receive at Wirral Ways aren’t statistics or strategies. They’re words from real people living real experiences.
Someone in recovery reached out to us recently. They told us they had written a poem about their relationship with cocaine, and that reading it back to themselves had genuinely helped them. They didn’t want credit. They didn’t want recognition. They just wanted to share it in the hope that it might help someone else feel a little less alone.
We think they’ve done exactly that.
The poem is called Breaking Up With Charlie. It traces the arc of an addiction with honesty and real craft, from the early highs and the sense of possibility, through the vulnerability that let something destructive take hold, and finally to the moment of clarity where the writer reclaims their own story.
Breaking Up With Charlie
Once upon a time you made me feel complete
With you I’d talk for hours to every stranger that I’d meet
Burn out never came and my battery never died
Convinced me that it’s worth it in the days my brain is fried
Made me understand the best things in life aren’t free
With you I could do anything, the best version of me
Thought I was sensible only indulging with the lads
Knew you’d pass eventually as if you were just a fadThen my love left me, waved goodbye from the front door
Your warm embrace enveloped me as my eyes began to pour
“I’ll never leave you, not like her” is what you told me
Convinced me you were all I’d need promising to hold me
The cold nights they got colder but you never left my side
With you I fell in love as you ebbed away the tidePromising to fill the hole her absence has created
But all you really wanted was me alone and isolated
You’re a coward and you’re weak preying only on the broken
Told me I was loved while real intent was left unspoken
But now I see you clearly I’ve pulled your claws from out my back
The scars a stark reminder and a nudge to keep on track
I won’t let you control me as you’re nothing but a fraud
There’s people here who love me they’ll see my growth and they’ll applaudI have one last thing to say to you, and that thing is goodbye
This relationship is finished, stay away and don’t reply
If this poem resonates with you, you’re not alone. And if you ever want to talk to someone, we’re here.
Last Updated on 16 June 2026