As a young man
I bought a bottle of aged bourbon
leaving it as a reminder
that celebration was near,
but it became my biggest failure
and my expectations flushed
down like brown bloodied bile.

I washed away nights of sin with gin
and begged mercy between breaths
but even then I had known I'd chosen less
as I dabbed my hands with lemon soap
I wrote a goodbye note 'Cheers
to the bottles I never broke open--'