Dear Amy three years ago,

Lost in an abyss with an undertow
Drinking didn’t work
Smoking mj didn’t work
The drugs didn’t work
What was there left to do?

So proud of you making that call
Finding God in California
But then a breakdown
A work intrusion
Tunneled vision
Didn’t know you could go back
To old playgrounds and play friends

Bipolar depression out of control
Anxious to continue life
Literally felt as if you could jump through your skin
Discharged
Sober
Sober for a few weeks
Then broken, off again

Feeling nothing through the summer,
Didn’t care if you lived or died
Approaching summer’s end
A call to a last resort place

A month at Starlite
A forever sobriety date,
It works if you work it
One day at a time.

Obtained clarity
But still had far to climb
Weekly sessions to breakdown
And excavate the past
Identified original wound

Worked with repair
Sometimes with God’s help when remembering to surrender
Lessons of
Trust
Faith
Courage
Integrity

Now three years later
Lessons of
Joy and Grace

It works if you work it
And you’re entirely worth it.