Branches sway
and turn away –
transmogrify to hands –
a silliness of reflex –
pushing out, against,
resisting – maybe
beckoning as well –
a cartoon ambiguity:
flung from ambivalently
thick and twisted
bark re-armoring itself –
inert, unfeelingly
protective: dense: you
can’t rely on your
perspective or your sense:
despite the harrowing
stark certainty
they’re all you’ve got.
Let me burrow
into you a little.
You pick the spot.
and turn away –
transmogrify to hands –
a silliness of reflex –
pushing out, against,
resisting – maybe
beckoning as well –
a cartoon ambiguity:
flung from ambivalently
thick and twisted
bark re-armoring itself –
inert, unfeelingly
protective: dense: you
can’t rely on your
perspective or your sense:
despite the harrowing
stark certainty
they’re all you’ve got.
Let me burrow
into you a little.
You pick the spot.
.
SOME SAY!
ReplyDeleteSome say AA it is a river
That drowns the human soul
Some say the 12 Steps are like razers
That leave ones soul to bleed
Some say the Steppers have a hunger
An endless aching need
I say the Steppers are a bunch of zombies
Bill & Bob clones, indeed.
It's the 13th Stepper when he is sleeping
With an attractive new member
It's the Sponsor afraid of waking that never takes the chance
It's the “higher power” who won’t be taken
Because it’s fixed to the door of the church hall door
And the Chairman out of his filthy satanic mouth – spew’s a drunk-a-log.
When your night has been too lonely
& the Big Book's a load of crap
And you think the 12 Steps are only
For the whacky and the morose
Just remember Bill & Bob, far beneath the bitter snows
Lies the seed
That Satan had sown
In the spring
74 years ago.
SOUND OF SOBRIETY
ReplyDeleteHello darkness, my old friend,
I’ve come to talk crap again,
An AA meeting softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the 12 STEPS that were planted in my brain, still remains
Within the sound of sobriety.
In restless meetings I walked alone
BILL WILSON CLONES, made of stone
Neath the halo of an OLD TIMER,
I turned my collar to the 1ST and 3RD STEP
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of
A SPIRITUAL AWAKENING that split the night
And touched the sound of sobriety.
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand12 STEPPERS, maybe more.
12 STEPPERS reading the BIG BOOK,
STEPPERS hearing without listening,
Scott W, writing his 4TH STEP
dAAve doing his 5TH STEP
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of sobriety.
ZOMBIES said I, you do not know
SATANISM like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that I might BRAINWASH you,
Take my arms that I might 13th STEP you.
But my words like the “higher power” fell, and echoed
In the halls of sobriety.
And the 12 STEPPERS ranted and raved
To the AA “god” they made.
And the sign flashed out its warning,
In the words that it was forming.
And the sign said KEEP COMING BACK;
IT WORKS IF YOU WORK IT!
And the 12 STEP ZOMBIES,
Whispered in the sounds of sobriety.
ONCE MORE
ReplyDeleteOnce more unto the meeting, dear STEPPERS, once more;
Or close the Group up with our Chairman in bed.
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest STEPPISM and INSANITY:
But when the blast of the “drunk-a-logs” blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the ZOMBIE;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage;
Then lend the eye to HOW IT WORKS;
Let it pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the mind be PROGRAMMED.
As fearfully as doth a galled rock
Overhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swilled with the wild and wasteful SHAPE SHIFTING REPTILES.
Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide
Hold hard the breath and bend up every BRAIN CELL
To his full height.
On, on, you noble 12 STEPPER
Whose mind is completely gone!
Fathers that, like so many PSYCHOPATHS
Have in these parts from morn till even fought
And sheathed their BIG BOOKS for lack of argument:
Dishonour not your SPONSORS; now attest
That those whom you called “old-timers” did beget you.
Be copy now to men of grosser blood,
And teach them how to go INSANE.
And you, good woman,
Whose brain was altered with SATANISM, show us here
The mettle of your pasture; let us 13th STEP you
That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not;
For there is none of you so mean and base,
That hath not noble LUST in your eyes.
I see you stand like BILL & BOB CLONES in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:
Follow your SPONSOR, and upon this charge
Cry “KEEP COMING BACK!” IT WORKS IF YOU WORK IT”!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHOW IT JERKS
ReplyDeleteRarely have we seen a person fail who thoroughly followed us home. Those who are not BRAINWASHED are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this garbage, usually men and women who are constitutionally capable of thinking for themselves.
There are such fortunate’s. They are not at fault; they seem to have been born premature. They are naturally capable of building and developing muscles, which demands rigorous training. Their chances are 6/4 on.
There are those, too, who are gravediggers and undertakers, but many of them do become ZOMBIES if they have the capacity to be dishonest.
Our stories disclose in a twisted way, who we like, what happened, and who we hate now. If you have decided you want a cup of tea and are willing to go to any lengths to become emotionally shutdown, SHAPE SHIFTING REPTILES - then you are ready to take certain steps.
At some of these we balked, we thought we could find someone to 13TH STEP, and we knew, we could. With all the madness at our command, we beg of you to become BILL WILSON CLONES - from the very start.
Some of us have tried to hold on to our BIG BOOKS and the result was nil until we let go of our SPONSORS. Remember that we deal with alcohol, frothy, bubbly, and powerful! without help it is too much for us. But there is one who has all power that one is the BARMAN. May you find Him now!
Half measures availed us nothing. We stood at the bar. We asked
The BARMAN for a couple of stiff vodka's. Here are the steps we took, which are suggested as a program to INSANITY :1. We admitted we were powerless over COCA-COLA, and decided to drink PEPSI, instead.
2. Came to believe that COLD POWER was a detergent.
3. Made a decision to turn our heads when we saw an attractive BLONDE. 4. Did a BODY SEARCH of the new members.
5. Admitted to our DOG, to elves, and to another super being the exact nature of our PONGS. 6. Were entirely ready to have SUPERMAN remove the effects of kryptonite.
7. Humbly asked CLARK KENT to remove our brains.
8. Made a list of all persons who owed us money, and became willing to charge them interest.
9. Made direct HITS wherever possible, except when someone moved the target.
10. Continued to talk CRAP and when we were wrong, promptly talked more CRAP. 11. Sought through our mail and computer to improve our conscious contact with BATMAN, as we understood him, praying only for knowledge of ROBIN and the return of SPIDERMAN. 12. Having had a STROKE as the result of these steps, we tried to carry out the GARBAGE, and fell flat on our backs.
Many of us exclaimed, "What an order! I can't go through with it." Do not be discouraged. No one among us has been able to maintain their homes and 13th STEP the newcomers, at the same time.
We are not psychopaths. The point is that we are willing to become PSYCHOTIC, the principles we have set down are guides to psychosis. We claim that BILL WILSON was a PSYCHOPATH. Our description of the landscape, the chapter to the GNOSTIC, and our family photos before and after make clear three pertinent ideas:
(a) That we wereUGLY and could not manage our own appearance.
(b) That probably no PHOTOGRAPHER could have improved our looks.
(c) That a PLASTIC SURGEON could and would if he were sought.
Shay said...
ReplyDelete“Keep it simple
Progress not perfection
Work it you're worth it
One day at a time
Easy does it
Don't leave before the miracle
This too shall pass
Fake it till you make it
Live and let live
Don't drink no matter what
Keep coming back”
Dear Shay
One of the hallmarks of AA is the cliché ridden language.
Clichés are thought by members to contain great wisdom & ultimate truths.
What they do is short circuit critical judgment & thought.
It is the language of non -thought.
SOBRIETY OR SALVATION?
ReplyDeleteWe need to realize that we are not ALCOHOLICS in need of SOBRIETY ; we are SINNERS in need of GOD. We will never find God by trying to clean up our sinful behaviour one piece at a time. This is the wrong method to find true Biblical healing. A Christian does not keep their old clothes and simply sew new patches of unshrunk cloth on them, patching them up as they cleanse each sin.
If they were to do that their clothes would be worse off with the patch, not better! Look at what Jesus said:
"No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.
Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved. (Matthew 9:16 - 17)
THAT AIN’T IN THE BOOK!
ReplyDeleteWe hear a lot of stuff said in meetings that can't be reconciled with the program as described in the Little Book of Blinkers Anonymous. What follows are some of the things we often hear, along with what the 1st Edition of our basic text, the Little Book of Blinkers Anonymous, has to say on the subject.
IF A BLINKER WANTS TO GET BLINKED, NOTHING YOU CAN SAY CAN MAKE HIM BLINK
Page 666, paragraph 2: "A demon of tolerance might repel blink-a-holics whose eyes could have been saved, had it not been for such blindness.
We would not even do the cause of moderate blinking any good, for not one blinker in a thousand likes to be told anything about blinking by one who loves it."
WE ARE JUST AN ARM'S LENGTH AWAY FROM A BLINK.
Page 666, paragraph 4: "And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone - even blinking.
For by this time our "higher power" will have returned. We will seldom be interested in blinking.
If tempted, we recoil from it as from a fat, satanic & blinking pig. We react insanely and abnormally, and we will find that this has happened romantically. We will see that our new attitude toward blinking has been given us without any thought or effort on our part. It just blinks!
That is the miracle of it. We are fighting it, we are not avoiding temptation. We feel as though we had been placed in an AA MEETING - unsafe and unprotected. We have not even "blinked" for over a week.
Instead, the problem has increased. Winking has raised its ugly head. We have swapped the “blink” for the “wink!"
Dear Guy,
ReplyDeleteI LOVE JESUS SO MUCH
I SHOULD NEVER HAVE ANY CAUSE OR REASON TO BE ASHAMED TO LOVE JESUS.
Is not the time coming, and the day hastening, when covetous men shall be ashamed of loving the world, and voluptuous men ashamed of loving their pleasures, and ambitious men ashamed of loving their honours?
For is it not a horrid shame, that a rational creature should be such a sot as to love sin which is most loathsome, and not to love Jesus who is most lovely? To love deformity, and not beauty?
Oh shame, shame! It is a shame that sin should have such esteem, and Jesus such great contempt put upon him.
But shame shall before long confound these now shameless wretches, when they shall cry out, "We are ashamed that we loved profits, and not Jesus- houses, lands, lusts, and not Jesus.
This is the confusion of our faces, and shame covers us-- that we should be so foolish, and so blind, that we had not sense, nor reason, to distinguish between sin, which is the greatest and most odious evil, and Jesus who is the greatest and most lovely good."
But the time will never come, the day will never be, that a gracious soul shall be ashamed of his sincere love to Jesus Christ. Repent!
Many Christians – One Sober Alcoholic - support and condone these 12 steps programs but a closer look reveals that groups like AA actually function in conflict with Scripture.
ReplyDeleteBelow are reasons why “The Big Book” cannot be used in conjunction with “The Book”, the Holy Bible.
First we must remember that psychology is man’s attempt to solve spiritual problems. Any attempt to excuse, justify or label behaviour is an attempt to cover up sin. God’s Word is clear, certain behaviours are sinful, not diseases.
Galatians 5: 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are fornication, uncleanness, immodesty, luxury,
20 Idolatry, witchcrafts, enmities, contentions, emulations, wraths, quarrels, dissensions, sects,
21 Envies, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like. Of which I foretell you, as I have foretold to you, that they who do such things shall not obtain the kingdom of God.
BILL & BOB GO FISHING
ReplyDeleteDear Guy,
Have you tried fishing? Not you’re common or gardening angling, but “reel fishing”! Not with worms or artificial flies, but with “real meat”, likes the 12 STEPS or the BIG BOOK.
We used to do it every summer…well! It was your summer and our winter. You’ve probably gathered that I live in Australia.
We’d hire this boat, quite a big one it was, Ethel and the kids, Bill 44 and Bob…he’d be 37 by now. We’d do a picnic basket – lovely it was, our 5th STEP, sobriety dates, drinking stories, a couple of bottles of apple cider and the 12 x 12. And off we’d sail over the reef. The sun would beat down, often the sea would be as calm....no calmer than the 12th STEP and we’d just drift.
We’d put our lines over then and just wait – play AA TAPES, talk "crap," and ring our SPONSORS. Wonderful it was!
Mind you, Ethel, didn’t care for the bait, it was the smell you see and the sight of HOW IT WORKS cluttering up the deck. “Micky”, she’d say! “The AA PROGRAM is putting me off my dinner”!
Well, it didn’t bother me or the kids, it wasn’t like that, the, OXFORD GROUP had delivered it quite fresh but Ethel used to say that CHAPTER 5 “sneered” at her and made noises, offensive noises, when the gases escaped from its crap.
The kids loved that “Mum”! they’d say when it did it – “RARELY HAVE WE SEEN A ZOMBIE FAIL WHO HAS THOROUGHLY FOLLOWED OUR PATH”! Well she didn’t like that, not Ethel, strict SATANIST, she was, thought it was very disrespectful. She would go into one of her sulks and it would last for “bloody hours”. Mind you, she did get a bit more excited when BILL shared his story.
Well she had to with BILL "frothing at the mouth" and banging his fist against the side of the boat. And then there would be more....BOB got into the act, tearing chunks out of the 12 STEPS, "spitting everywhere," snapping at BILL.
But I don’t think she really approved, not Ethel. She said it was senseless 13th STEPPING. Well I suppose it was if you look at it that way! But there are lots of 12 STEP PROGRAMS aren’t, there, Guy?
It went wrong when Bill did the 9th STEP! Huge it was, more like the 5th STEP, really. Again and again he raved on like a "psychopath," but he wouldn’t shut up. Clever “bugger”! He had learned you see.
Well I was determined that I was going to do a personal INVENTORY. I threw the BIG BOOK, all the picnic stuff in the water.
BILL went mad; I’d never seen him so upset. He tore the rod out of its restraints and hurled it in the water. I didn’t stop to think, that’s always been my problem, “being sober” – BILL followed the rod!
Well! He was gone in “two bites” and I didn’t catch the PROGRAM. It seemed to know; it sort of “grinned” at me and then just made off. BOB wasn’t too pleased either…he’d missed his "higher power!"