Whiskey when I'm thirsty, whiskey when I'm dry
Whiskey in the morning, whiskey till I cry
Me and this old whiskey, in the same place by and by
This whiskey cannot hurt me, this whiskey makes me die

Paddle this old river, the banks go sliding by
Polish this old trigger, wipe carbon from your eye
Put down that amber liquor, it's eating your insides
Go and find that river, it is deep and it is wide

How many individual cups of grief sit on this counter alone 
holding pictures of their sons and daughters
The distant sounds of shelling 
Dreadful walk of a slumbering, evil giant 
drunk and wheeling
A galvanizing hate, one that grinds teeth to gum
drives all tears from their spring eternal
dries one's soul into shriveled reeds 
dry, crumbling thistles

Winding down a well penned road, written like red leaves and hickory smoke
Wandering down another limestone dust dirt nothing, little slice of heaven in the sun
Creeks rolling, eyes wide on Folgers and a spent cigarette, walking a mile for the next pack
Pack on your back, climbing up crevice and crack, quiet nights with thunder and fire
Fire and rain, eyes in pain, wipe away these tears from mine, I already ran out of all my time
This Crown goes down nice, makes my feet dance drunk, makes the moths come circle
That stuff makes it worse in the morning, but **** the morning is worse anyway
That **** makes me sick, but I **** it down like a horsefly ***** up blood, slapped silly
Third degree sideways emotions, a burning train wreck of bauxite and broken dreams

Mundane, molting in the shade, moth under black light
My heart grasps at dusty winged angels, hiding from a sunbeam
A glass empties itself down your throat, vile pitcher plant soul
Gripping and splitting my lost life asunder, efficient self destruction
Clear water corrupted, blue air bereft of blown wind
In this surrounding stillness I bury my head like a child
Attempt a portage around my grief, a bottles relief poured amber
Peeking through a promise of broken glass paths to hell

One day he will follow her to the sea
By way of creek breaking through cold pine root
Through stone and sand, through outstretched hand
Through this silent land he laps languidly
Rushes relentless, rests in pools, rolling blue jewels
To the sea, on to the endless sea, meet her at the shore
The salt and the roar, the recession of wave and water
Starlight's son and daughter, mingling in the tide
Drawn out from this great divide, down into the depths

A bee tumbles into my water glass,
rights himself on thin ice cube,
drinks from a droplet,
disappears drowsily
down wind

Tumbling and rolling, strutting and strolling
Watching the moon go bowling across the sky
Big dipper wonders why Orion is bending
Wonder what his mother was mending on his cloak
Go for half broke, or just half of that, a casual chat
Fried up pork fat and biscuits, just missed it
This ship is listing, but I'm listening, commissioning blues
Nothing to do, listened to how the grass grew, dared and flew
Always a little to short, change and the sort, burned my last Newport
Watch me sport a smile, strutting and strollin' for another mile