Whiskey and the Rope — A Death Cell Lament

[Single candle.] [Dirt floor.] [A man and his last bottle, back against the cold stone wall…] VERSE 1 I've been sittin' here since sundown with this bottle for my priest, Confessin' every crooked mile from the highest to the least. The tin cup's got a crack in it, the candle's burnin' low, And every sip gets heavier the closer comes the glow Of that pale and godless mornin' light that don't care what I feel — It'll rise the same as yesterday, indifferent as cold steel. I robbed a man in Laredo when his children watched the door. I told myself I needed it, I tell myself no more. The judge read out the charges like a preacher reads the psalm, And the jury never wavered, and the room was deadly calm. [He holds the bottle up to the candle flame and watches the amber light through the glass…] CHORUS One more sip of whiskey and the rope, Burnin' down the memories I can't outrun. Devil's laughin' in the mornin' smoke — Whiskey and the rope... just one more night. [The candle flickers.] [Outside, something moves in the dark yard.] VERSE 2 I keep thinkin' 'bout my mother at the table, sayin' grace, How she'd fold her hands so careful with that tired, lovely face. I wonder if she knows yet. I wonder if she'll come. I wonder if the preacher will read something when it's done. The guard outside ain't speakin' — just his boots upon the stone — And a man can lose his moorings when he's dyin' all alone. [The bottle is more than half gone.] [He stares at the ceiling.] CHORUS One more sip of whiskey and the rope, Burnin' down the memories I can't outrun. Devil's laughin' in the mornin' smoke — Whiskey and the rope... just one more night. [Somewhere a horse shifts in its stall.] [Dawn is maybe two hours out.] [The verse shrinks.] VERSE 3 Was I guilty? Lord, I reckon so. But guilty men still feel the cold. Guilty men watch candles go. [He looks at the bottle.] [Nearly gone.] FINAL CHORUS One more sip of whiskey and the rope, Burnin' down the memories I can't outrun. Devil's laughin' in the mornin' smoke — Whiskey and the rope... [The candle goes out on its own.] [He doesn't relight it.]