Down The Hall

Had the flu in the prison infirmary

My last day I looked up and saw

A man wheeled round the corner

Down to skin and bones that's all

I asked the nurse where he was goin'

She said 'hospice down the hall

He prob'ly won't be in there long

Any day we'll get the call'

I asked if they let family in

She said 'not really at the end

Truth is, a lot don't have someone

No friends or next of kin'

The thought of those guys goin' out alone

It hit me somewhere deep

I asked could I go sit with 'em

For some comfort and relief?

Next thing you know, I'm on the ward

Doin' things you can't believe

Like shavin' Julio's bony head

Crackin' him up when I wash his feet

I used to run when I saw Tyrone

Knowin' your place's what it's all about

Now he's here doubled up in pain

Cancer eatin' him from the inside out

I sit and wait outside his stall

To help him when he's done

Whatever shame we might have felt

Well, all that's come undone

I can't undo the wrong I did

Give back the life I took

But maybe when it comes my turn

I'll get a second look

I don't know 'bout religion

I only know what I see

And in the end when I hold their hand

It's both of us set free