The Whiskey Defense Poem by Barry Middleton

anyone who's spent some time
in honky-tonks and bars
each one of us has met this man
we know him by his scars

you heard his sad old story told
of all of life's abuses
he tells it in a slurring voice
and the whiskey makes excuses

oh yes I know he may admit
he made a few mistakes
he never got a second chance
he never caught the breaks

I guess some men are doomed to fail
they show you all their bruises
tears fall on the barroom floor
and the whiskey makes excuses

when I was young I swore to never
be that sad old man
and it may be the life we get
is not the one we plan

still as I take my place tonight
a man gets what he chooses
and I can see that clearly now
no whiskey no excuses