BEACONS

The LIQUOR sign is a bright beacon and

Those beautiful bottles beckon but

(Always a but)

The ten in my pocket

Buys only Old Crow or Kentucky Deluxe.

That’s some bottom-shelf bourbon, baby.

But

But!

(Always a but)

There is a brighter beacon and

Her beautiful bottom beckons and

The ten in my pocket

Buys nothing.

Her ass is top-shelf.

DON’T LOOK BACK

You stand tall

When you’re backed against a wall. 

Don’t let the bastards

Bring you down. 

Use charm,

Use guile,

Use a disarming smile,

Use the knife

Beneath your golden crown. 

You fucking fight 

When you are right. 

Don’t let the cowards 

Make you weak. 

Go crazy, 

Be manic, 

Cause panic,

Revel 

In the ruin you wreak. 

Don’t look back at all the mistakes 

And bad calls. 

Don’t look back at all the failures

And falls. 

Don’t look to Rome for your future –

The Senate of your heart is disbanded 

And the Republic is no more. 

We all have greatness in our past

But it’s best not to dwell. 

Don’t look back. 

Look toward your laughter!

Look toward your home!

Leave the desolation behind.

What you have done is what you have done.

It is done but it is not you. 

Do not look back. 

OLD WORDS

I have been a scalawag and a scoundrel.

I have been a rascal and a rogue.

Dad buried my sister out back

The day that we were born. 

Imagine my mother’s sorrow and joy

With a silent baby daughter 

And a squalling baby boy. 

IN MY NOOK

A nervous squirrel might say

“I love you with all my heart”,

But that’s not quite right for me

For I love you with many more parts.

I love you with my lips,

I love you with my eyes,

I love you with my brain,

I love you with my thighs. 

Vitalized by every detail,

My ears, too, are full of love.

I feel you during the night,

Thumping with blood

As your chest rises and falls

In my nook. 

QUESTIONS 

What am I trying to drown

With all this fucking booze?

What am I trying to bury?

What am I afraid to lose?

Whatever it is keeps surfacing 

Like a fucking whisky whale 

And this goddam Moby Dick

Is making my life hell. 

Whatever it is keeps digging out 

Of the grave I thought I put it in

Like some fucking liquor zombie 

Eager to eat some skin. 

Whatever it is must be precious 

But it’s not The fucking Ring

So why am I so damn afraid 

To give up the drinking?

GIANTS VII

So the Giant left the Giant

And he got up to no good

Just like she knew he would. 

But, oh! how he missed her

While the Giant was gone 

THINGS I BROKE WHILE DRUNK

Bottles

A coffee table

Dishes

Laws

A leg

Mother’s heart

A nightstand 

Three phones 

Promises 

Spectacles 

Two toilets 

Trust 

A window

COMEDY GOLD

Sex, drugs, and rock & roll!

Live fast die young was my goal

But I lived slow and now I’m old. 

If irony is funny, that shit is gold.

GIANTS VI

The Giants sleep apart tonight 

Although they’d rather sleep together,

Especially in this weather 

When it’s nice and cool

And it’s always nice and cool

When Giants are together. 

GIANTS V

And the Giants fought quietly 

And the earth did tremble with their silence 

And she said she should leave 

And he said please don’t go

And she left anyway 

And the earth cried with him