Deep in the Sea

January 27

DEEP IN THE SEA

Under the mirror, there is a life. Under what I reflect to the world, I am a world apart. I smile sweetly, political in my response to confrontation and conflict. Deep, deep in the sea, is a current of sadness I can’t always shake. Pain is the past, but it’s there like a moray, lurking to strike aimlessly, pointlessly, at the passers-by. The ripping teeth and cold stare, my terror. No way to escape it, I focus on the topside, the reflective part of me. I keep the surface as clean and free as can be. I stick to my business, list goals and make plans. The water runs cold and then hot beneath. I carry the steps to this under-water grave, trying to inflate the rubber skin of god, but no. There is no life in the god of my understanding, or maybe there is no life for the character the drowned balloon represents. The sea is bigger than me, the life stronger and more abundant. The sky it reflects as vast as the liquid I swim. There is a Power and it doesn’t need that comic book face. Safety is not the requirement that can be granted. Lack of safety does not end my life. It does not end God.

Tear open your thoughts like a letter you read mostly between the lines.

*

A Living Love

What I love about the program

is that it is a living thing, like me.

It is not perfect, it is growing and changing,

adapting and correcting for each experience and need.

AA is a life into life process

and saves me because life begets life,

no matter what I was told.

The answer to life is living

and I get to see that being done

by everyone from newcomer to old-timer

each at his or her personal ability.

I am allowed to dangle my feet,

wade, tread-water and swim,

all under the watchful eye of

loving support and critical pretender.

Difficulty is not removed nor is the way made smooth,

but I am no longer without a thread to hold.

I love the web I help weave myself into

and feel protected from the spider of my addiction

because together we are living proof.