Elixir of Air

Down to Basics

AA gets down to basics.

Wham bang, you're down and out (or so it seems)
but if you're alive you've still got a prayer.
Across the universe from wounds to healing there's honest-to-God a way
but not without "working a spiritual program":
admitting need,
surrendering control,
reaching out,
getting honest,
risking trust,
releasing resentments,
practicing discipline,
cultivating gratitude,
learning patience,
tasting Power,
and finally discovering the magnitude of service:
the secret making the universe sing
that to keep it you have to give it away.
Thank God for wham bang and you're down
if it gets you down to basics.

Save The Condolences

Some upon hearing I'm a substance abuse counselor
express their condolences.
The stereotype of the addict as hard, hostile and hopeless
is not without grounds.
Until the moment of truth and the great reversal,
it's hard imagining anyone more obnoxious and obstructive,
more bent on the self-destructive.
But truth and reversal can and do occur
and with such pitch of drama and discovery of wings
that apparent grueling job becomes work that sings.
Save the condolences.

Improbable Grace

It's not a matter of being done with wounds
for life keeps wounding,
but rather of allowing them when they come
not only to carry us toward healing
but wondrously to transform us into healers
thanks to the wholly improbable grace of the original wounding.

Two Things Necessary

Two things necessary to break an addiction:
sufficient pain to motivate change
and life-dream to follow.
Without the pain
memory of good times will entice back;
without the dream
life will languish around an empty hole--
what good is freedom
without the energy and pull of a dream?
Essential to find a yes
if to keep saying no.