Anonymous Girl

This poem is dedicated to a very dear friend of mine. I am honored that she has allowed me to share in the many celebrations and grievances of her journey. The seasonal flow of her addiction and recovery has been beautifully painful at times, but beautiful none the less. Until recently, I did not realize truly how much I have grown in the midst of supporting her. I am forever thankful. Though I am not an alcoholic, the countless parallels of our lives have inspired me to take an inventory of my own self. And so it is that we walk side by side, one step at a time.


"It has been a sweet, long year of sobriety,"
She said, last August, with a chip and a fragile smile.
"I am warped with dysfunction, the classic, corked variety,
Like the tantrum of an inconsolable child!"

She then grit her teeth 'til Summer had ended.
And when Autumn fell, she jumped only to Fall.
With arms ready and fully extended-
To embrace the past that had quenched her so small.

How she welcomed the first breath of October!
That hummed rust and gold with mint swaying breeze!
Past the many months she had learned to be sober-
Within the hills of the soon to be barren trees.

Into the flaked silence of a snowy December,
She drank 'til she could only dream the applause
Of the many that had listened again to remember,
Their own story, sweet with her convicted pause.

Reflecting the drip of a one-sided affair,
The organs played both in ruin and in tune.
To the rhythm of January & Her elated cares,
New Year's promise toasted Midnight's brume.

February drenched her dry palate of intent,
And March kept her in Winter's last swallow.
Drowning the self she could never forgive or forget,
She waited for Spring and its evaporating tomorrows.

April brought sunlight that pierced through
Collected droplets that had frosted her pane.
Danced its rays around her living room,
Renewed her spirit and bleached the stains.

"It has been a sweet, long season of nothing,"
She said, once again, with a chip and a fragile smile.
"I am warped with dysfunction, but at least I have something,
Like the desire of an impossibly, determined child!"