From the full taverns
Where elation roared
He boasted his tales
Of conquest and plunder

That man tapered off
Into the frozen goodnight
Fuming with bourbon
And nursing his pipe

Plumes of delight
Were garnished with song
As he whistled soft hymns
Along cobble stones home

Through hushed alleyways
Grazed by young romance
Lurking hallow archways
Obscured in the fog of night

He trudged alone
An anonymous silhouette
Far from sober
And singed by lovers lost

His anguish echoed
Billowing unanswered
In fearless sobbing
Along his dwindling path

The boasting fell quiet
In the grander haze of sorrow
Coiling his shadow
Until he wailed no more