Empty Places At the Table

There was no warning on the label,
About the places at the table,
Forever empty because of booze,
There was no hint of lives we lose,
No word about those booze has killed,
Whose dreams will never be fulfilled.
Nothing to warn of its effects:
Like child abuse and birth defects,
The beaten wives, and birthdays missed,
The ruined lives, and lips not kissed.
Empty beds no longer slept in,
Shelves where unused things are kept in,
The many funerals to attend,  
And sunny days without a friend.
The lies that alcoholics tell,
And plenty more to make life hell -    
The deaths by fire, the fatal falls,
Motor vehicles crashed into walls.  
Young ones dead inside their dorm,
Who drank some booze just to conform.  
The married couples who divorce,
The shootings fuelled by booze, of course,  
Plus other kinds of homicides,
And rapes, assaults and suicides,
Lots of cancers, and drownings too -
To alcohol all this is due,  
There’s so much harm that it will do.