Hey There, Help’s Here

Dedicated to the neglected kids I taught throughout the years, and to John Prine’s “Hello In There”

I stay in a trailer on the outskirts

Just turned 10 in this so-called home

Mom and “new guy” pretend they’re living here

Each day I live the fear, I’m all alone this year

Older sis moved out for truck stop scenes

Been her home for quite a while

Seems years since that girl has smiled

State took her child, turned her tame to wild

Say a seedling grows in sunshine

Foals thrive with help along the way

Neglected children just stay hopeless

Waiting for someone to say,

“Hey there, help’s here…hey there.”

Me and Momma, we don’t never talk

She’s too busy for things like me

Most townies just turn their heads away

As if I’m just a stray, a white trash castaway

Head uptown to hang with kids like me

The only ones who know the pain

What do they do to make it all okay

Pass around that blunt, we’ll smoke it all away

Say a seedling grows in sunshine

Foals thrive with help along the way

Neglected children just stay hopeless

Waiting for someone to say,

“Hey there, help’s here…hey there.”

So if you pass that rundown trailer

And spot some lifeless eyes like mine

Please don’t just drive by and leer

As if you don’t care

Say, “Hey there, help’s here…hey there.”