a ride down the road past all my mistakes
drinking, gambling with lives- the stakes
raised, in a bar- battery, alcohol-induced
chances, choices, charity- all reduced
for an operator under the influence
unless, perhaps, a product of affluence
i am only the drunk driver that got past
saw my future in A.A. before having my last
bottom- i quit digging- just barely in time
and when i did discovered a new rhyme
always with me all along- there from the start
just watered down, covered by drops in my heart
and head- undead under the influence, coasting
no mind to use to attend to senseless boasting
my own- unconscious- put down, drained
by the strength of an addict’s nature trained
persistent, habitual perfectionism- it’s true,
wasted on drinking but present; now sober, due
success as i focus energy once spent hiding
on a brand new attempt at overwriting, righting
a new story to tell about how it can be done
recovering from a distance, reuniting as one
being one’s self again, even after the drinking
escaping the cycle by ending your thinking.

** see more of my poetry on my blog "Nothing Definite: Spontaneous, Combustible, Poetry" at http://gcool06.blogspot.com/ - thanks for reading (and writing)! **