June 29
HEAT EXCHANGE
I stand in the shower and let the water run. The water carries away my temperature in
exchange for its own. I leave the
enclosure restored. Mentally, a meeting
does this for me. I change hot topics
for more moderate positions, cold indifference for warm regard. Stepping into a group of my fellows carts off
my excess ego and flushes my pride.
Isolation is taken and camaraderie left in its place. I am always changed by standing amid the rush
of sober minds and faithful service.
Balance comes from proximity and willingness. Everything is reduced to letting myself get
wet.
Measure your
growth on a doorpost.
*
Exercising Futility
Asking the confused for explanation
is like asking a blind man the color of the sea.
It isn’t that he couldn’t tell you,
but how could you be sure?
To exercise futility is more than just a game
or the words to a song
your mother sings when lost or far away.
To take the fish out of water
and train it on a bike is meaner than I need to be,
but isn’t it my right?
Just to do things because they can be done
or try them because they can’t
is more the worse for everyday a tragedy in pants.
Puzzle out the little things and practice when you can,
for putting on the frazzled mind
is cruel to the poor sweet-hearted sot.
You are reading selections from Sober on the Way to Sane
and More Lines From My Life by Sherrie Theriault
