12 steps thru the ruins

coffee burns black as secrets
and fluorescent lights hum truth
thru our weary bones
scattered souls gather
drawn to the warmth of familiar scars

words float between metal chairs
and steamin styrofoam cups
in this rented sanctuary
where shadows pool in corners
patient predators at watch
in their presence
we learn to shed our defenses
layin our ghosts down
like weapons carried far too long
no man needs armor here
just the courage to speak truth
and the strength to hear it

we’ve all found God in different places
some in wooden pews
others on their knees at midnight
I found mine
in that sacred pause between note
where damper pedals make time stand still
and forgiveness fills the spaces
between sound

these men have held my darkest hours
in their outstretched hands
readin the black and blue stories
written beneath my skin
they speak fluently
in the language of rock bottom
without judgement
lettin understandin work it’s quiet healin

we trade stories of lost moments
that can’t be returned
of mornin mirrors hard to face
of our children’s birthdays
missed or barely remembered
of tremors stilled by time
of clenched fist slowly releasin
into open palms

in this borrowed space
we are simple men
guidin each other thru the ruins
of our former selves
footsteps echoin against
concrete and confessions

somewhere between the breaths of
“hi…I’m an addict”
and the promise of “keep comin back”
we found ourselves standin together
seen
understood
finally choosin to live