WALKING JOY HOME I make sure to walk joy home,Not because I doubt her ability to find it aloneRather because it gives me extra time with her. I used to fear joy.That I would be intoxicated by her presentsAnd lose my well-hardened grasp on realism. Now I see that without joy in my life there is no realismThat it was only cynicismMasquerading in its place. Joy is simple and unassuming,I often confuse her with ecstasy and scoot away in shy terrorJoy is nice to have around she is not just a party animal. Sometimes I invite her over for a cup of tea.When we are done I take the winding pathTo savor every step up to her door.

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PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS There is a penny in the bathtub.I wonder who stood in there with loose changePossibly confused it for a wishing well the penny was tossed in. The stories I could tell, the hopes that tantalize my mindElves and leprechauns, dreamers and optimists,All trundle through my thinking. When I don’t know the answersAt least now I can look for the best,The sweetest thoughts. I don’t run to the dark and threatening disastersI have lost the lease to my personal black cloudThe one which used to follow wherever I went. I can smile nowAnd think of pennies from HeavenThe first drop landed in my tub. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ALICE Because I even wore out my welcomeat the Mad Hatters house,I can sit on my hands at my sponsors tableAnd listen, listen, listen. If I had been able to make a place for myselfwith the looking glass folkI could never let myself loose my eccentricitiesAnd join in the fellowship. Going down further than a rabbit holeI lost my need to chase or scramble after bunniesFor time or card tricks. No more illusions for me.I am awake and shadedby the tree of recovery branching over meSisters I didn’t know take my hand.