Poetry by Kate Wilson

      Andrew Filer CC



My Old Roommate Used His AA Book as a Coaster for His Beer

and the god of sobriety said
                                                              kate i promise you that all hopelessness is replaced by hope

and my one-month coin said
                                                             kate addiction is part of who you were
                                                             it does not need to be a part of who you are
                                                             do not shut the door on the past

and the beer said
                                                              you are not you without me

and the pill bottle said
                                                              i am prescribed
                                                              i am not dangerous
                                                              but you are dangerous with me
                                                              and you are dangerous without me
                                                              i do not know which is worse

and the aa book said
                                                              follow your idea of a caring higher power

and my god asked
                                                              why can’t you look me in the face?

and my mom said
                                                              your aunt isn’t without addiction now
                                                              she may not drink anymore but she is
                                                              addicted to god.

and my parents’ divorce said
                                                              your father couldn’t quit drinking when you were born
                                                              so maybe you shouldn’t have been.

And I said
                                                               I have been the person shaking in the corner of the meeting.
                                                               They do not make coins for thirty minutes clean. But they do make
                                                               coins for a year. God grant me the serenity to accept this
                                                               coaster. God grant me the courage to experience the sanctuary of
                                                               my own sobriety. God grant me the wisdom of forgiveness. God
grant me

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Kate Wilson lives in Salt Lake City, Utah and attends Westminster College. They are an interview correspondent with Half Mystic Press and serve as a poetry editor for ellipsis… Literature & Art and Rose Quartz Magazine. Three of their poems were selected for the Academy of American Poets Student Poetry Prize and their work can be found with Pressure Gauge Press and Parentheses Journal, among others.

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