Sour Mash Blues In Slidell, Louisiana (Room No. 9)

I’ve built a wall beside myself
to keep others safely distant
your lies still dig inside me
both numbing and persistent
you cast aside your virtue
and left without a thought
it’s easy to dismiss it now
as a lesson harshly taught
it’s strange how things unravel
how quickly we can fall from grace
you once soothed my withered heart
with the solace in your embrace

now, when I get a little money
I just spend it on myself
no one cares to know me
I take my comfort off the shelf
it’s a cold, hard type of lonely
I wish no other man to feel
it’s a silent, sweet despair
that’s both stark, and yet, surreal

I will often hear her laughter
as girls pass me on the street
but their eyes don’t have her twinkle
nor their kisses taste as sweet
now I sit here with my whiskey
in a cheap no-tell motel
gripping tightly to the bottle
lest I slide down into hell