Stay with me my little cockroach

Do not run away as I approach

I mean no harm or any reproach

On your little space, I won’t encroach

For every night for your short stroll

You leave the crack in that damp wall

Of my little cell which I would call

The cruel world’s darkest hell hole

And when you come and roam at night

I wonder if you see my plight

When you do stare from that great height

Do I seem such a miserable sight?

A withering frame of skin and bone

No sparkling eyes, no muscle tone

Ankles shackled, face bruised, beard grown

Always alone, all ways alone

Always alone and not a sound

Mouldy mattress on cold ground

And thick damp walls that us surround

My body and soul all year round

You cannot know what isolation

Can do to men of any nation

No matter what their occupation

They would rather strangulation

And all I want is to see you there

Looking at me with a tiny pair

Of eyes that roam every where

And at my face would always stare

You can’t imagine what a pleasure

It is for me in great measure

To see you there in your leisure

A sight of life I do treasure

Both you and I yearn for contact

With life and light, and to react

To keep our minds and wits intact

Come sign with me this friendship pact