He walked in ruffled with a buddy,
Guys hanging after a hard day's labor
Had a meal of the menu, his friend treated
A full deal, needed a doggie bag after
They sat next to me, joking lightheartedly
Spoke of nothing essential, the inconsequential
I chimed in, being myself a man of not much essence
But his buddy slid off, chatted with some chicks
Then he switched topics, unexpectedly, non sequitur, slick
He uttered some grave thing, some home issues, disturbing
I felt for him but had no real inkling
Maybe the air was too light for me to give this thing weight
But he threw a bait and I let it escape
His buddy ambled back, unsuccessful
We rambled back about the trivial, shooting the bull 
We spent a serious 15 minutes on the politically correct term: 
"to-go bag" instead of "doggie bag"
So forth and so on
They left
And he went home and hung himself


Lesson:At least pray with a man in distress, 
even if you don't know him, even if he confesses 
in the lightness of a moment. You'll harbor no regret.  
A lot of people are crying out for help and 
don't know who or where to turn to.  
If you get a hint, act.