The Jail That Never Stays Full

Same iron door, same rusty creak

Same four faces staring back, same week

They don't even fight the cuffs anymore

Just grin like old friends walking through the store

I sign the paper, they sign the wall

Names carved deeper every fall

The deputies yawn, the judge looks bored

Another round in the same old chord

I turn the key, hear the lock engage

But I already know the next page

The jail that never stays full keeps calling my name

Same shadows walk out in the morning, same game

I chain 'em tight, they slip like smoke

I bring 'em justice, they bring the joke

The jail that never stays full, it laughs in my face

Every lock I turn just opens more space

I'm not catching criminals, I'm feeding a wheel

That spins for the town and grinds down what's real

One of them asked me last night through the bars

"Why don't you just shoot us and save the scars?"

I looked at his eyes, saw nothing to hate

Just tired men playing their usual fate

The cell smells like yesterday's sweat and defeat

Same graffiti, same piss on the concrete

They don't dream of freedom, they dream of the ride

Back to the road where the cycle won't hide

If I quit tonight, would the town even break?

Or would someone else come and make the same mistake?

Every bullet I save is another they spend

On running the same goddamn end

The jail that never stays full keeps burning my days

Same four shadows dancing the same old maze

I lock the door, but the door don't care

It knows I'll be back, standing right there

The jail that never stays full, that's my life in a line

Catch and release, every damn time

No heroes, no villains, just motion and rust

And a man who keeps doing what he no longer trusts