Mother chose a career, left Bill
so her parents raised him.
Grandpa passed on faith
or lack thereof, disdain
for hypocrisy.

Into the Army,
the war to end all wars,
people introduced him
to the alcohol
Grandpa warned against.

Marriage brought grandiosity
rather than children
and alcohol consumption
par excellence.

He descended into
perfection in decadence,
a wasted life once bright,
full of hope, no longer
exorbitance, surfeit.

Until desperation
and fortune brought together
three snippets of wisdom
and a low enough low
to light the spark
that became recovery.