Twelve Steps to Paradise: poem by Paul J. L. Hughes

image by "wevfewv" on Pixabay

Twelve Steps to Paradise

Black smoke clouds encircle a crowd

Of revellers standing outside a church hall,

Fumigating the wounds of the past,

Cigarette ash falls to the earth,

Like the embers of lost souls who

Never made it back to the front line of recovery,

Many men die before taking the first

Steps towards the upper realms of paradise,

Freedom from bondage of self,

A debt absolved that can only be repaid

By giving away what was freely given to us,

Blessed are the sick who surrender to Him.

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Paul J. L. Hughes is a breakthrough English poet. He writes about alcoholism, drug addiction, mental illness, and religious transformation. He shares his writing at instagram.com/prosebypaul

July 2024 issue