Recovery Road – A Belliad by Al Konda Some wounds don’t bleed — they echo. Through silence, through prayer, through every whispered craving. This poem, Recovery Road, is a Belliad. Ninety-nine lines. Four distinct phases. One unflinching journey through crisis, addiction, and the long path to healing. I wrote it not only for those who’ve walked the dark alleyways of substance dependence, but for anyone who has watched their faith shatter and still dared to rebuild. The Gathering Storm reveals the spiritual fracture — a voice once filled with prayer now haunted by doubt. The Confrontation meets the demon head-on, in community, in confession, in the quiet triumph of a clear phone call from a daughter. The Spiral is temptation’s refrain, a villanelle that loops like relapse itself. And The Integration is the sacred walk forward — still trembling, still raw, but whole. I structured this poem as a Belliad because pain deserves form. Suffering, when shaped into rhythm and return, gains meaning. Not just catharsis, but transformation. This is not a poem of easy answers. It is a poem of endurance. One step. One breath. One sober heartbeat at a time. – Al Konda Read the full poem: https://alkonda.com/2025/09/19/recovery-road/