may the drink take me

i speak so loudly now i can't whisper

when i do it's a growl

but to me it's a purr

saying:

more now, let's have another, be you now

be you now

be you now and let's

freeze.

let's.

father, partner, addict, fiend

keys under my fingers getting hot against the air outside

words fail me as they always have and i damn them, yes,

i damn them and hate them and fight their beck and call

siren words and their promise

singing a sweet old song i know too well

i'll be safe here, make port,

but not without another

drink

not without your first mate

let him come along, let him see us as we are,

let him see the words you scream to no one

these words that don't come without a nip

just a nip, yes,

and why not, sailor?

why not, to warm against the winds?

these winds blow cold and lonely in the seas

water and water and water everywhere

and there's so much to drink

there's so much thirst to be had

so much to be quenched

and as i write these words i know there are too many

but

i can't kill them, i can't kill another

so many have died by my hand:

lover

brother

father

son

myself and i and who i thought i could be 

when the boat rocked within those summer seas.

maudlin, am i?

yar, yes, maybe so

i'll die soon and may the water take me

may the drink take me,

please.

may the drink take me.