When there was nothing to lose, he stood
Thin, tall, always happy
Full of tales the same height he was
He would defend us regardless of what we had done

On the right track, head held high
Homelessness left behind with influence
A week away from a real life
One dreadful day to make hearts wretch

One simple mistake, done many times over
One breath to rip them from life,
And abandon them in the night, left in dust
To turn to dusk in the burning sun

No anonymous calls were made that night
No one to help a hopeless lovable idiot
Time past, and it was all unknown
A betrayal of friendship

A secret in an abandoned lot,
Drenched in sun and a rotting shell of a man
Days closer to life, taken by a simple bad day
Oxygen gifts life, to him it brought death

Crying mothers, blood related or not
Picking maggots off a shrunken face
Chewing mints and avoiding gazes
To fend off the feeling of despair

Last message never received
Few belongings tossed to rats
An apology left to rot in the wasteland of a profile
Ignored by brother, who was already too late to help

Deceitful snakes in black clothing,
Calling him a son, until he became worthless
A glimpse of a dead man in a truck to bring a cop to tears,
Not related by blood, but the closest family had

His true family, he would sacrifice for us
Cast aside by blood, yet we turned him away too
Now he sits visits with an old man, who never liked him
They visit together, because they agree in death