Lower the Stakes

Letters from other cultures I
Decipher but still cannot describe
These holiest texts you shove at me
And read out loud
before we fall asleep
The breadwinners brain is on the run
While his snipped son has just begun
Stirring cement and stacking brick
He hopes he can get us out of this

But he's no stronger than he was before
He moves kinda like the night moth
Hugs the light by the door
And all night long we hear him calling

Please lower the stakes
Please lower the stakes
Please lower the stakes
They bring me down

Hard not to cross those thick black lines
Drawn cleopatra round both your eyes
Hard not to watch you disappear
Apologies falling out both your ears
And London she called she wasn't worried
When I asked how she was she didn't hurry
She always noticed the little things
The cracks in the sidewalk, a wedding ring

Saturday turns to Sunday just turns away
The nurse wrote all the patient felt was a mild pain
Between the lines the doctor read said

Please lower the stakes
Please lower the stakes
Please lower the stakes
They bring me down