Sheila was waiting
waiting for the court
to give her kids back
to believe that she had given herself
to Jesus now and that she was walking
the straight and narrow
keeping her nose clean
staying off the dope
not turning tricks
and keeping creeps and con-men
out of her bed and out of her life
Sheila wanted them to think
that staying clean was more
more than a dog and pony show
but she knew damn well
that as soon as the kids got home
she was breaking out the needle
and the spoon
one more time
Sheila was waiting
waiting in the methadone line

Reggie was waiting
waiting for his wife
to get enough courage
to finally walk out on him
after all the shit he had pulled
and she had put up with
year after year after year
all the lies and all the promises
he had lost count ages ago
of all the times he had let her down
and she had threatened to leave
Reggie didn’t care anymore
he couldn’t remember
if he had loved her in the beginning
but he sure as hell
didn’t love her now
and maybe if she left
he could get a little money
out of her
Reggie was waiting
waiting in the methadone line

Lizzie was waiting
waiting for her case
to just go away
she had been speeding down Sunset
high as a kite on large amounts
of very high quality coke and smack
she hadn’t a care in the world
until she hit that parked Chevy
going 85 miles an hour
and suddenly, everything in her life
changed for the worse
Lizzie was fine, believe it or not
too stoned to feel a thing
but her best friend Sue
in the passenger seat
never woke up from her coma
Liz had a billionaire daddy, though
who found a fancy lawyer
to get her out of trouble
Lizzie was waiting
waiting in the methadone line

And, I too, am waiting
waiting for my willpower
to die of neglect
I don’t know how many times
I’ve tried to get clean
but I’d get two days or three days
before the fear and the rage
would gnaw at me
like a trapped rat
chewing off it’s own foot
and I’d be back on the street again
I didn’t want to stop using, see
I just wanted to not have to
sell myself to lonely old perverts
or rip off my family
or hustle some poor slob
out of his hard earned money
just to buy enough dope
to keep myself well
So here I am
Waiting
waiting in the methadone line