The cheapest cigarettes

Two tall cans and the cheapest cigarettes to relieve
An honest man and another honest day of working.
It'll help him through the night
It'll help him get some sleep.

Then he's up again and he's standing on the corner hoping
His dirty hands can once again earn him a living.
Then it's to the liquor store
Another night spent on the street

Then a thought occurs to me
With a knot inside my throat I balance on
A rope thinner than feet a thousand feet above
A canyon floor with one exception
Everyone can clearly see the safety net waiting
For my falling body.

Look deep inside of muscles sore there's acid eating
But there's still life in spite of everything retreating
Because a day of work still beats
Not having any days at all.

What good is pride? It never stopped a stomach aching
What good are rights when all you want is to be eating?
A little shelter from the rain
A little comfort in the cold
A stubborn thought it sickens me

And I never learned a better lesson
Than what I can't articulate about a smile and a sense of something better
In what should be desolate and desperate
Disenfranchised and disappointing and so distraught

I'm a fake a fraud a phone every step I take
In a broken smile, he reminded me
My net is bigger than a falling body.
My hands are clean but my soul is dirty.