Reconnecting...

It is amazing to me, but it has been more than four months since I filed a post for The Happy Hour. I've been busy with many other things in my life - a renewed interest in Buddhism and spiritual practice, working three jobs, keeping up with reading, and an intense involvement with the Saint Paul Red Stockings (my fantasy baseball team!) - that have kept me away from the blog. But, now it's time to return to regular writing.

I can think of no better place to re-start than to share some things I have written recently about recovery. Essentially, I have taken up poetry as a way of describing what is going on with me and recovery. Specifically, I have started with a certain form of poetry, Haiku, that is a very simple and easy way to express complex ideas. The form dictates that the writer use a specific number of syllables in three written lines. The first line has five syllables, the second line has seven, and the third line concludes the poem with five syllables. An ancient example of Haiku was written by some anonymous writer...

Curving up, then down,

Meeting blue sky and green earth,

Melding sun and rain.

And, another writer told of the wonderful feeling of support from a friend...

Lend me your arms,

Fast as thunderbolts,

For a pillow on my journey.

So, you will notice that the form is not exact and sometimes the stanzas have more or less syllables in them. But, the idea seemed like a good one to me as a way to concisely express some of my ideas about recovery...

Recovery goes,

At a gallop each new day,

Oh, the joy of peace.

Never looking back,

I trudge to happy destiny,

AA guides the way.

Relapse whispers me,

To give up my life to it...

Recovery shouts!

I am happy now,

As I walk in the new light,

That guides my strong way.

These are just a few of my feelings about recovery and life that run through my heart these days.

All the best,

Roger