The Shelf

I remember the times from my youth, a time when I had very few role models.    
   
I grew belligerent, ignorant and uncouth;    
As I was shown the value of liquor bottles.    
   
Firsthand experience, I sadly held this coal.    
Burned to the quick as it scorched my very soul.    
   
This is no excuse for my actions, for every person isn’t the same.    
   
Some can handle these liquids, but to think I could, I was insane.    
   
I seen what it did to my father, I seen what it did to my mother.    
   
I seen what it did to my family, but somehow thought I was different from the others.    
   
What I sought in this bottle, I now know was a sense of self…    
   
But instead I fell for the coup, and took the bottle’s place upon the shelf.