Blame The Whiskey

Sip the whiskey to remember

Knock it back to forget

One warm night in early September

Surrounded by him, liquor, and cigarettes.

Living a life of denial

He stripped my mask with such grace

And sent me on this downward spiral.

I sip the whiskey to remember his face.

Chiseled jaw and crystal eyes

Danced behind those black rimmed lids.

He picked apart my careful disguise,

Dispatched those dames and made his bid.

Two whiskeys down and another round 

Muddled my mind with his words and liquor

Accompanied him across this sleeping town

With the promise of more emboldening elixir.

A glass for us both and cigarette in hand

I got lost in the tattoos enveloping his arms

His charms pulled me down, like all encompassing quicksand

I was caught in his eyes and completely disarmed.

A brush of  skin, a casual touch 

"I'm not gay" I mumbled desperately into his embrace  

No prying eyes here to condemn or judge

Just my own inner inhibitions to face.   

His lips on my ear, "That's okay," he whispered.

"Tonight you can seek whatever you desire.

Emboldened and brazen, we'll blame the liquor

For these defiant actions and this raging fire."

I fell into him and we quenched those flames 

Whiskey riddled desire taken to new heights.

Yet woke alone in a bed of spilled whiskey and shame  

With this note, "Thanks for the amazing night."

Now I sip the whiskey to remember     

And realize the liquor was never to blame

For that fiery night in early September

When that tattooed man set my heart aflame.