Well, it coulda been Vegas
Or somewhere way out west
Coulda been somewhere
with your heart just beatin’ back on my chest
And hearin’ you say we’re right

Coulda been in Nashville
With some friends of mine singin’ my blues
Instead of way out there
With not a **** thing to do
But now it’s over
And you don’t love me anymore

Why Indiana
I still can’t believe
You took forever and forgot about me
I know it hurt, but it hurts so bad I laugh
Just to keep from dyin’

Why Indiana
With grass just as green
Why not the beaches
with some teal home scenes
Wish you were running
Down my side of the track
But now it’s ever-clear to see
That we’ll never make it back

Why Indiana
On a cleared-sky day
Why not those mountains
With a pourin’ rain
Wanna hear your voice
on the other end of the phone
but now you’re way long gone

Momma was an angel.
Found in Jackson, Ohio.
A hero in the midst.
She never deserved the hurt, or to miss her grandson throwing fits.

Separation out of mind,
pitiful instincts with his fists.
A troubled man with the deepest struggles,
a timed bomb his children never knew to exist.
Why did it come to this?
Just like every poem,
someday it all makes sense.

Could there be a greater cause?
Brought forth the possibility of greater thoughts?
Ambition in the flesh that his momma brought with the ultimate cost?
His best shot, an ongoing battle that he knows he’d never botch.
Living for his momma, no matter the cost.

15 years later, no search in his findings,
but founded truths in a wish.
A realization of a relationship forever binding,
and this mind for her is the gift.
Having no hope at countless timings,
a gorgeous lady flipped that script.
With her unmatchable kindness
spoken through those luscious lips,
every word will eternally stick.

The lady is mother sent,
it took me a while though.
I never knew I’d find her
from the doubt around the merry-go.
I’ve run in circles,
thinking of false hope.
Momma said “Nope,
you’ll find your why though.”
With a mind torn like hatred of treacherous photos,
still found the reason of this life that’s been loco.
Heavily weighted shoulders dismissing cons and looking for pros.
Never knew the circumstance for next week,
or tomorrow’s place I might go.
Like momma said,
I’ve found my “why though.”
She’s a dark-haired angel
Found in Smalltown, Ohio

Tonight is my farewell
Still, I wish you could kiss me
Never again to miss me
But that’s not how it goes
It’s a life that’s too risky

One more kiss
Suffocate the times I miss
Hers and his
One more whiskey kiss
We can act like it’s never gonna hurt

Just forget it all and kiss me
Only one kiss
How did it come to this
An immediate exit

Just one time I wish
It’s me you’d miss
A whiskey kiss
Kiss me and forget
Ignore the whiskey

Rumble, young lady
But just don’t hate me
No need to kick me
Just ignore the whiskey

- The Biggest What If

PS Thank you for the inspiration, muse. No lady will replace it. As for the next life, you’ll get my best shot.

He always had her laughin
Emotions were real
It was two hearts grabbin’ like a couple of thieves reachin’ out of habit feelin’ every justified need to steal.
She was a beaut, so exotic
She was never lettin’ go
I knew she had it, and I wanted to have it
She wouldn’t let me imagine,
so Hell, what do I know?

Whatever she was,
she’s a hero bein’ made
She was finer than wine
Her fire’s never contained
The greatest wonder in mind
Realizing all of her love
I wanna know the good in all whatever she was

It was a love the world couldn’t succeed to come and find to ever defeat
Because he was the hand she was dealt and  became the ace right up her sleeve
A simple promise like his honest momma that he needs to know she’ll never leave.
She had the hope, but she really needed to know all of the good times gonna roll off that small town road

11:30 in my hometown.
Couldn’t see her gorgeous face.
My knees just went to shakin’.
because her last breath she had taken...
then I prayed.

I still hear that lady talkin’.
She drags me out a sunken place.
That stairway fades into my mood
with a front page from county news...
and I pray.

It’s where I go when I’m dreamin’.
She’s the one who I give thanks.
When I’m high and low in hope...
with her grandson or alone,
I pray.

I’ve been losing my religion.
I’ve been in and out of faith.
What it is and what it isn’t,
well, it’s not for me to say.
You stand in different churches
and you call it different names,
but to my momma...
I pray.

I know you, and I know me
I know that I’m not what you need
But I’ve gotta get this off my chest
Some nights I lie here wide awake
And think about this bed I’ve made
The second chance I’ll never get

‘Cause I’d kiss you like the summer rain
And I’d shiver when you say my name
And I’d cling to you to the better end
If I could have your heart again

Your feet would never touch the floor
You would be all that I endure
I’d know just what I’d have to lose

I hate that this is where I stand
Hate how I’ll never be your man
There’s nothing I would not undo

‘Cause I’d kiss you like the summer rain
And I’d shiver when you say my name
And I’d cling to you to the better end
If I could have your heart again

I remember the first time meeting my good friend Jimmie.
They said he was addicted to whiskey.
Maker’s Mark to be exact.
I was longing to be in my natural habitat
A country musician who’s skin’s black.
Pop-country is supposed to be bad.
I never understood that.

Nobody ****** with us.
Immediate joy and trust.
Our minds clicked like a clique on a beat.
“Stick around with us. Show us your mind. Have a seat. Maybe you could be a part of our team.”
A connection I never had yet.
People finally considered my mind an asset.

Code names and NDAs to protect the stars Stoney Creek would create.
She was supposed to come along someday,
but she had no patience to wait.
Absorbed by past dates and bad fates.

Code name’s “Whiskey,” because I matched shot for shot.
Shared my story, heard their thoughts.
Told me I had made my mark.
“Whiskey is a Mark Maker. A genius writer and creator”
We made our mark with Maker’s Mark.
We gamble often off the charts.
Take some time to play some cards.
Write some songs straight from the heart.
A connection that’ll never fail.
We knew it from the start.

He still hears his mama singing,
feels her voice thump
in the left of his chest.
A January night with broken rest
began a whole new life and a tragic test.
He found her lying on the top step,
‘cause his daddy took away her very last breath.
Looked to the heavens above his head,
then dropped to his knees and to God he pled.
And he said,
this is Hell, life isn’t right,
I just might lose my fight tonight.
I don’t know why this hand I’m dealt
Thank you for my life, momma did so well
as he knelt down beside her
on that stairway to Hell.