A friend of mine
from half a continent away
stood at my kitchen window
looking at the bird feeder
I’d put up in her honor
and named birds there,
in my yard, I’d never heard of.
I told her once
I’d seen a scissortail
but couldn’t find it
in the bird book.
She said she’d never seen one
but that they were listed
under flycatchers.
I mentioned having seen
a bluejay, and she doubted it,
wondered if wasn’t a green jay
or a pinyon jay. I said no,
I knew bluejays.
We had different levels
of knowledge about birds,
hers complex, mine minimal,
but things easy to me
were and outside her experience.
There is no judgment in Recovery.
We work the same steps
in different ways and reach together
that place where promises come true
beyond our wildest dreams.