An old man with a crooked grin,

pulled me close with promises thin.

“Out of hell and away from sin,

a ride to peace—just step right in.”

The price was steep, all that I knew,

but with nothing left, what could I lose?

Yet as I neared, a shadow grew,

a boy with tears, old and blue.

Beside him, anger built in tin,

a man who’d lost to what’s within,

and a woman with flakey, peeling skin.

A sign flickered in the smoky air,

a line of people, hollowed and bare,

with them, a girl lost in despair,

and her dog that didn’t really seem to care.

The man with the crooked grin stood still,

I could be free, I had the will.

But in that place, a void did fill,

a hunger that only the euphoria kills.

One more night in this cell,

one more night and then farewell.

Just one more taste, one final spell—

and the devil shoos the old man

away, saying, “All is well.”