Filing Away...

sorely missing someone unfamiliar
last i knew her, i was her teacher
forever ago, it seems, but only a few years
all blurred together by multiple beers
for the most part; vodka, some wine, too
and i forgot to mention i was sober a few
months- twenty, precisely- thanks mostly
to nearly losing it all and amidst insanity
finding me- girl, dream, job, even (nearly)
gone for a bit to get the help i needed
clarity coming back- re-encountering
consciousness, contentment- everything
each day a shade brighter than the last
beginning- as i remember it- to let go past
old memories, worries, blames, shames,
words, yesterdays, friends, reasons, names,
games, relaxation, entertainment- pain-free-
finally sober- slowly recollecting all of me
only to store it away- this time filed neatly
instead of by the drunken, random, misery
of the system i used to sort them before
in black-outs, memory loss- an addict torn
up on something, mostly always
years on end spent merging days
one into another- overdosing on
time, money, worry, drugs- gone-
ending – as i recollect it- a time past
old memories, worries, blames, shames,
words, yesterdays, friends, reasons, names,
games, relaxation, entertainment- pain-free
filed now in the appropriate category- past, history