Texas poem

A brother’s promise

He ambled into a Texas honky-tonk,

And ordered three mugs of the local brew.

He found a table in a distant corner,

Then proceeded to do what “suds sippers” do.

Methodically taking a drink from each mug,

And when he’d finished, he bought three more.

“When a beer leaves the tap, the flavor wanes,”

‘Buy one at a time,” the bartender said with candor.

I have two brothers in the U. S. military,

And both are deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq.

We vowed we would drink one for each of us,

And I would do so until they both get back.

He became a regular patron with this routine,

Three beers and alone at the back of the room.

One day he came and ordered only two beers,

A silent hush fell, and it was a quiet as a tomb.

Getting a refill, the bartender expressed his sorrow,

Puzzled, he asked precisely what he meant.

He thought one of his brothers had passed,

My brothers are safe, so it’s not a sad event.

You see my wife and I joined the Baptist Church,

It required that to abstinence I commit.

But my decision to forego the beer,

Doesn’t mean my brothers had to quit!