love consumes and mends
the broken places in my life

another day sober and free
new possibilities rising
from despair to hope
resentment to love and tolerance

walking through difficulty
with my head held high
trusting in a Loving Higher Power
holding my daughter close

no longer isolated and alone
I trudge the road of happy destiny
with friends: brothers and sisters
who lift me up when I stumble and fall

I get to show up to life today
I am so grateful for second chances
to live life sober and free
my heart reaching out to help another

speak out
against hatred
love who you love*
without fear

nothing else
is needed
just hope,
and trust
in *love

love lost
last breath
new life
given birth
hope sprouts

sadness washes over me
like sweat on a hot summer's day in the South

air is thick with grief and yet my heart sings

my heart sings songs of love as I hold my daughter
and as I reach out my hand to help the new guy

Life is full even as I walk through grief and for that I am truly grateful.

my heart longs for cool nights back home in the mountains, where the fire flies dance and bull frogs sing

air invisible
heart vulnerable
Love indivisible
fear perpetuates
peace regenerates

forever more
love abides
even in
the dark
lonely places

free gift of sobriety
that makes
life and laughter possible

deep gratitude
this day of my birth
for divine breath

heart beats                              brain stops
thoughts quiet                       heart sings
a new song                             free of fear
life grows anew                    with heart free

my heart sings Your glory.
I am grateful I can be grateful,
when there was a time I used to
hate You because I thought You
were making life happen to me.

Thanks for not answering my daily prayer
of killing me in my sleep or checking out some other way.

Today, I am grateful for my breath and that I
can be unstuck from self-pity and despair.

Thanks for helping me be useful to You and Your other kids.

my true home rests in
the seat of my *heart

all around
singing of birds, laughter of children
right now

I wonder and wander
alone aimlessly
until I find you

eyes closed
brain quiet
breathing slowed
body relaxed
heart full

Beloved, my heart sings songs of *Your praise.
Thank You for helping me get through the day sober and free.

I am grateful I canbe present to life today.  I can give and receive love instead of being trapped in self, hopeless and full of self-pity.

Grateful I can hold my daughter with love exploding from my heart. With Your help and help of fellow sojourners, she never has to see me drunk.

Beloved, may I continue walking on the path and share this precious gift of sobriety with others that I meet on the way.

Thank You. I love You.

a cold silence
seeping into broken dreams
redeemed by love

nothing is as freeing
as aimless wandering
*i am free

moments of joy
wander into my life
as I cry

Nothin' hurts like heartache
a longin' that you just can't break

Woman, you did me wrong
I am gonna mend my ways

I ain't been home in so long,
never to dance with your hips swayin'

Let me go home where I belong
back to the mountains of Appalachia,
where cicadias sing and
women are sweet like moonshine

your words were
sweet like chocolate

now you launch bitter daggers
that pierce my heart

Better than a speech of a thousand vain words is
one thoughtful word which brings peace to the mind.
Better than a poem of a thousand vain verses is
one thoughtful line which brings peace to the mind.
Better than a hundred poems of vain stanzas is one
word of the dharma that brings peace to the mind.

hope burns even in the darkest of nights

Love guides my way

slumber is fleeting
so is the promise of love
which can easily
be lost

some days I wish I could fade into nothing
but then your love reminds me to stay
I plant roots and let love grow in me

what we had is lost and gone,
I choose gratitude instead of bitterness.

the love we had could quickly turn into
resentment, fear and anger.

for our daughter's sake and for my own serenity,
I choose to practice love and tolerance.

I am choosing to be grateful for what we shared,
and present to the life created out of that love.

just for today, I embrace it all. the pain, joy, tears and laughter.

I mourn the loss of our marriage,
but love remains.

life giving water flows
from the hidden spring
look within

we drift further away
our once unending love is
coming to a close

the sadness of it all is overwhelming
I miss being able to laugh together
and now we can't even agree
on raising our beautiful daughter

sometimes I wonder how we got here?
But that question will lead me
to the gates of insanity?

all I can do is take little steps forward,
and keep showing up to life.
I cherish each moment with my daughter.

you react to me as if I leave a strong
unpleasant aftertaste.
I try not to react and practice love and tolerance.

at the end of the day love guides me
through this strange journey of
grief and loss.

we are no longer two made one through vows.
I am sad, but I am grateful I can welcome
little moments of joy, sadness, tears and laughter.

I embrace it all.

little moments of joy
fill my day
with you near

I feel like the Tin Man
wanting a new heart

I mourn the death of my heart
*broken and lost

my heart crumbles
as I walk away
with you crying in your mother's arms
with tears streaming down your face
reaching out to me

I get up even when I don't want to
God thank you for my life
and the courage to keep putting
one foot in front of the other

your tiny breaths
are like love songs
to my heart

sitting and waiting
a breeze visits
with a soft caress

my world falls apart with one word

as my world crumbles,
the Divine Lover whispers my name.
three words are spoken into my heart,
and my heart sings even as I walk through the death of love.

God, I want to be real with you, but sometimes its really hard.
Help me to let go of what I think what I know about You, my spiritual journey, and who I am.

I open myself up to you, so I may experience You in my life.

Help me cut through my own *******, so I am honest with myself.

I give thanks for my life.  Please help me to breathe deeply today, so I may be present to people that I think are "*******."  Help me to get to know them as people, and connect to them beyond what's hard about them.  I don't expect this to happen overnight, so help me to have patience as You teach me to love.

Oh yeah, and help me to love the greatest pain in the *** in my life. Me.  Help me to be compassionate and loving to myself, so I may embody Your love to others.  Thanks. Amen.

living without holding and craving
letting life flow in me