Friends of Bill W.

[LeftWriteFemme]

September 26


Green Wood

When a nail is hammered into a living tree, the tree is forever changed. Even if the barb is pulled out the tree will never be the same. If the spike remains and the tree lives; over time the nail will be incorporated, the tree will get on with the business of living and carry the thing as just a part of what it took to get here. What was trauma is trauma, but life is big and the longer it gets the larger the life, is the hope. Piercing experience is engulfed by rings of fresh wood and a will to grow beyond the moment of impact. The tree branches out and even a hundred nails can’t stop that.


Educate domination when you can and cage it when you have to

*

VIRGINIA CREEPER

In a clearing grows a vine
As seasons change the leaves turn pale.
This type of vine grows throughout the woods
But does it grow pale everywhere
Or only in this sunlit space?

I see the trembling of the lovely foliage
And wonder the destiny of the flora.
Does growth have a will of it own?
Does it grow to light or is it a must?

Can I turn my face
Even if Virginia Creeper cannot?
And if I can------------
Should I just to prove a point?


.

[LeftWriteFemme]

January 1


THE COWS ARE HIGHER THAN THE HOUSE


I got sober only to end up living in a house where the cows are higher than the house. I mean, next to my house there is a hill. The hill is surrounded by a fence. The cows are pastured inside the fence. Standing on the hill, the cows are taller than the house.
I didn’t expect to live in a house where the cows were higher. I expected normal. I didn’t expect the cows at all. I expected the house, but not this house, and not here, next to this hill. I expected to tell people, "Come to my house. It’s at the end of the lane. It’s the one with the rose colored shutters." My sponsor wants to know why rose colored shutters are okay but cows overlooking the house are not. I can’t answer her. It’s just wrong; that’s all! I don’t know why she can’t understand this. It seems perfectly clear to me.
My sponsor says I am powerless over cows and my life is not unmanageable but my thinking is. She tells me to paint purple cows, to write stories about worse places for the cows to be. I tell her the tub. She says write it down. She’s no fun.
I heard in a meeting I should pray for the people and things I am upset about. I pray for the cows. My sponsor says the cows see how I live my life and she is sure the cows pray for me.


Write a letter to the moon

*

Lie


Yes, a lie is just a lie,
but the truth also has problems.
I relay the facts
and the words take on a life of their own,

They leave out the backdoor
and walk on down the road.
They move to another town
and never find time to come back for a visit
even though, I am their mother.

And woe to the woman
who grows attached to credit
or recognition for her ideas.
These kidnapped prodigies are never ransomed
but sold outright and their DNA not questioned or tested.

So, my advice is to love your words in secret
and raise your notions behind high walls.
If you are ever called upon to share your wisdom, lie.

For even if you’re caught the risk is tolerable.
Exposure is awkward but then again no one is looking,
so, what is there to lose.
A lie is just a lie but it stays home with you at night.



.

[Tommi]

Transition from here and now dear Friend of Bill. You were so much to so many that held your words of inspiration close to heart.

Too young. Too soon. Title of your bestseller, Sober on the Way to Sane echoes in the corners of my mind.

Left Write Femme ,clever left handed writer.
Memories Traveling to 12 Step bookstores from New Jersey to California to kick off the following 10 books. Remembering the glee in your face when you saw your books on the shelves. Your joy as I marched across the snow in motorcycle boots, so you could photograph me for the cover of your first novel, about Love and abuse in our community. This is intolerable. Rest In Peace ☮️

[Tommi]

Friends of Bill

Living sober. One day at a time, remember the journey of those who have gone before you. Sober thoughts and sober living enable you to give back and pay it forward. We will continue along the road, always providing a light along the way.