.o@*hu
                  ..      .........   .u*"    ^Rc
                oP""*Lo*#"""""""""""7d" .d*N.   $
               @  u@""           .u*" o*"   #L  ?b
              @   "              " .d"  .d@@e$   ?b.
             8                    @*@me@#         '"Nu
            @                                        '#b
          .P                                           $r
        .@"                                  $L        $
      .@"                                   8"R      dP
   .d#"                                  .dP d"   .d#
  xP              .e                 .ud#"  dE.o@"(
  $             s*"              .u@*""     '""\dP"
  ?L  ..                    ..o@""        .$  uP
   #c:$"*u.             .u@*""$          uR .@"
    ?L$. '"""***Nc    x@""   @"         d" JP
     ^#$.        #L  .$     8"         d" d"
       '          "b.'$.   @"         $" 8"
                   '"*@$L $"         $  @
                   @L    $"         d" 8\
                   $$u.u$"         dF dF
                   $ """   o      dP xR
                   $      dFNu...@"  $
                   "N..   ?B ^"""   :R
                     """"* RL       d>
                            "$u.   .$
                              ^"*bo@" tony

...the serpent coiled

it's sinous form

around his mind

serruptiously

speaking

sly,

superfluous

lies, half-truths

and stilted

serenades

appeasing to

a sense of

times bygone

but in time

it's ruse

would

wither his soul

and rot

his sense

of right

and wrong...

turns out i lied to myself

...again

when i wrote 'roguelife'

with a bottle of jack

i was back to telling myself

the same old lies

i was frustrated

lonely

out of sorts

sleeping in my car

and dejected

so...

i reached for that old poison

and felt the burn

in more ways then one

commence three days of

pint after pint after pint

of straight whiskey

and

P

t h e R O A D

to m o r e O

B

L

E

M

S

S

s

S

s

s

s

S

s in ous

e

R

p

E

nt

Spe

Ak

S

ending with two nights

in J A I L

and a D U I

first one

like an idiot

i sped past the state patrol

doing eighty (in a 55)

my dog went to a shelter

and i got to sit in a holding cell

with fentanyl addicts

coming

D

O

W

N

a miserable sight

i felt for them

i wept for my dog

i self-flaggelated myself

for missing my fiance's

memorial we hold every year

AGAIN!

(was in jail last year too)

luckily the judge went easy

i got released today

licking my wounds now

and still resolved to

REBUILD

this old wolf knows better

but what is past is past

once the whiskey takes over

i can't howl

i can't run wild

free

the bottle is a steel trap

that clamps down

and wont let go

i can't let it

wont let it anymore

i have to howl

or this wolf

will die

but i'm still alive

and sober again

howling once more

let the moon be

my beacon

                            .d$$b
                          .' TO$;\
                         /  : TP._;
                        / _.;  :Tb|
                       /   /   ;j$j
                   _.-"       d$$$$
                 .' ..       d$$$$;
                /  /P'      d$$$$P. |\
               /   "      .d$$$P' |\^"l
             .'           `T$P^"""""  :
         ._.'      _.'                ;
      `-.-".-'-' ._.       _.-"    .-"
    `.-" _____  ._              .-"
   -(.g$$$$$$$b.              .'
     ""^^T$$$P^)            .(:
       _/  -"  /.'         /:/;
    ._.'-'`-'  ")/         /;/;
 `-.-"..--""   " /         /  ;
.-" ..--""        -'          :
..--""--.-"         (\      .-(\
  ..--""              `-\(\/;`
    _.                      :
                            ;`-
                           :\
                           ;