Revelations

March 9

Revelations

And I, Sherrie, had a new freedom and a new happiness for the first freedom and the first happiness were passed away.  And there were no more tears. This is how it should be and for the most part this is how it is.  Hell’s gates hang broken on their hinges and I walk free.  The world is mine to explore and I am happy.  More than a notion, my life is a fact; sounder than a bank note and I am on an emotional foot race to keep pace with my recovering self.  Could it be lost?  Lost like paradise, lost like I was lost before?  Why, yes, all could be lost and that is what makes this freedom truly free and this happiness truly happy, they are mine, mine to keep and mine to lose, they may not be in my control but they are within my reach.

Voir dere contempt

*

VOLUNTARY MUTE

I have learned I don't have to answer just because someone asks.
I have learned to change subjects.
I have learned it is better to say nothing.

Repeating the phrase, "It's just my opinion."
Followed with, "I could be wrong."
Has proven insufficient.

Somehow things frequently turn out worse than I expected
But as of yet none have turned out better.
This upsets.

People become angry when I am correct.
They are less angry when I'm silent.
I tell the truth and trouble follows.

I didn't get sober to lie so I keep my mouth shut.
There is no reason to distress folks
And reality has a way of doing that.

Silence is my new defense
I hide in it
And find my new freedom.

Unless it's my sponsor, my sponsee or my cherished friend
Battening down the hatches saves me from a tempest
And spare others their outburst.

You are reading selections from More Sober on the Way to Sane and Lines From My Life by Sherrie Theriault

http://www.amazon.com/More-Sober-The-Way-Sane/dp/144141231X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1374072329&sr=8-3&keywords=sober+on+the+way+to+sane

http://www.amazon.com/Lines-My-Life-Sherrie-Theriault/dp/1448652820/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374072576&sr=1-1&keywords=Lines+from+my+life%2C+Sherrie+theriault

Fish of Chaos

October 26

FISH OF CHAOS

Out of chaos come very tiny fish, well, maybe not fish but a very swimmy feeling.  How can I go around with my feet off the ground, my mind racing on a squirrel cage?  Breathing helps, breathing is someplace to start.  Once I get breathing regularly, I can gingerly probe with one foot for a place to stand.  The chaos may race around and past my legs like so many eels on a summer’s evening, but with time and practice I can step from this current as well.  Out of chaos come very tiny fish, but I can come out, too.

Wring out every drop from your books.

*

Circuit Speaker

It isn’t until I listen long to the Northside poet

that I realize there is such a thing as a Chicago accent.

I hear it as I never have before.

I don’t hear it in my beloved Rodger,

hear only the hope he brings to share.

As I get ready to walk to the podium

I wish that no one hears the Jersey in my voice

only the experience I bring to share.