Recovering

By Lisa N.

Recovery – it takes some time.
Minutes turn to days, days to weeks.
While the weeks, they mark the climb.

Work through the months, get to the end.
Recovery is continuous, a journey and path.
No final destination you see, my friend!

Addiction is our illness, connection is our cure.
We wrestle our demons, deal with Life.
Adulting with competence, our goal, to be sure.

Present and feeling, every cry or laugh.
No numbing, no leaving, no escaping.
Living it all fully, not existing only by half.

Course of action is simple, the execution is not.
Struggle with emotions; intense and variable.
Learning how to behave; we change our thoughts.

Better ways of communicating with friends.
We understand ourselves, our family, more.
Life becomes clear, we heal and make amends.

Recovery continues as long as we’re alive.
We continue to grow through our experiences.
We adapt, we keep evolving. We thrive.

Published in A New Leaf – June 2025

  • Poem

    Written By, Jessyka C. Don’t know how many more times we can say goodbyeBut I will tryHopefully for one last timeTo see you outThis is itIt’s overI mean thisAnd it’s not like I won’t miss youI willWe were good togetherYou and IWe had some great timesBut MaryYou’re done scaring meWith how much I rely upon…

    Poem
  • Stopwatch

    Created By, Anonymous Published By A New Leaf – March 2026

    Stopwatch
  • Heard in a Meeting

    “Don’t tell your Higher Power you have a big problem, tell your problem you have a big Higher Power/God.” Published by A New Leaf – March 2026

    Heard in a Meeting
  • But What If…

    Written By Anthony As I sit in this first day of sobriety, laying in the bed waiting to get sleepy after taking a sleep aid, I’m thinking to myself “But what if I lose it all from disconnecting from everything and everyone?” Only to realize that those what-ifs are what’s kept me trapped for so…

    But What If…
  • Gripped by Green

    Written by, Amy K. Chaos crowned my childhood years,a crown of grief, a flood of tears.Mum was gone before I knewhow fragile love, how brief, how true. At eight, the world was cracked and cold,foster hands, but none to hold.Brother lost to darker fires,needles, powders, failed desires. I found my comfort in the haze,at twelve…

    Gripped by Green
  • A Simple Conversation

    Written by, Michael J. A fellow’s post reminded me of a simple conversation I had this morning with the love of my life. It was about how taking something non-narcotic to help me sleep only works if I take it about once a month. If taken more often than that, it does nothing. That simple…

    A Simple Conversation