Used to use
Legal and illegal
Unnatural substances
Where I soared higher
And higher
Until I crashed and burned.
I bottomed out
In a place worse than hell
Then rebuilt my life
Anew
Free of alcohol
Free of drugs
And a preoccupation with the
Things that make life
Worth living;
Writing and poetry and
Books and work
And singing and dancing and
Dreaming and hiking and
Camping and love.
For 15 years I have not
Puffed the pipe or
Reached for the bottle
Granting me the opportunity to
Think clearly and become
The person that I am today;
A Poet
A Lover
A Believer
A Dreamer