Helpless

I hear prison bars in your words

as you pour onto my ears

what's going on in your world.

I grasp the steel poles

my fingers trembling

at the hate, like coals,

burning through your voice

I want to reach you, but I can't

I am held back by your choice

You won't look me in the eyes

full of grief and desires to save you

as you rest easy on dying inside

You straighten your cell

with booze and weed

and a brimstone smell.

I release the bars

as you professedly insist

you like the way you are

Who am I to say anything, how dare

I tell you the right way to cope with life

You are right; I'm sorry I care