The Master said, “Riches and honors are what men desire. If they cannot be obtained in the proper way, they should not be held. Poverty and baseness are what men dislike. If they cannot be avoided in the proper way, they should not be avoided. . . . The superior man does not, even for the space of a single meal, act contrary to virtue. In moments of haste, he cleaves to it. In seasons of danger, he cleaves to it.” ~ Confucius

Virtue. If I’m a superior man
(Is that the same as a woman in recovery?)
I do not act contrary to virtue…
not even for a single meal.
(Does that mean an out-of-program snack works?)
Virtue. Does it denigrate the characteristic
to consider virtue equivalent
to a food plan? Even to abstinence?
No. Not if the morality I’m looking for
is that called recovery.
Then how do you keep virtue?
Not by being superior, I know that.
I’ve tried, and as superior as I can be
I’m a glutton, a wanton, a pig.
But in recovery I can act as if,
can pretend to be a superior person,
eating what I perceive one consumes,
ignoring the rest. For a single meal.
For every meal, every interstice between them.
In moments of haste, I’ll cling to the behavior.
In seasons of danger, I’ll do the same.
And I’ll do it the proper way,
honestly, humbly, willingly.