The Bar

The Saloon is sometimes called a Bar,
  A Bar to heaven, a door to hell
Whoever named it, named it well;
  A Bar to manliness and wealth
A door to want and broken health;
  A Bar to honor, pride and fame
A door to grief and sin and shame;
  A Bar to hope, a bar to prayer
A door to darkness and despair;
  A Bar to honored useful life
A door to brawling, senseless strife;
  A Bar to all that's true and brave
A door to every drunkard's grave;
  A Bar to joys that home imparts
A door to tears and aching hearts;
  A Bar to heaven, a door to hell
Whoever name it, named it well!

--By a convict serving a life term in
Joliet Prison, Illinois.