Shear Pin

[Verse 1]
The ten-millimeter socket is cold in my palm again, Lena.
It's just past midnight, where the quiet always begins.
A quarter-turn clockwise, just checkin' the torque on this faith.
My hands huntin' for the hairline wear, the slow metallic ache.

[Chorus]
We're down to the shear pin, I can feel the strain.
One more degree of torsion in this Mississippi rain.
Just a sliver of soft metal meant to hold back the fall.
Prayin' the design tolerance is all.

[Verse 2]
Your left work boot by the door, still laced up tight.
The Co-Op receipt from Tuesday under the kitchen light.
A half-full glass of water sweating on the pine.
The dog-eared page where your readin' fell behind.

[Chorus]
We're down to the shear pin, baby, I feel the strain.
One more degree of torsion in this damned Clarksdale rain.
Just a sliver of soft metal meant to hold back the fall.
Prayin' the design tolerance is all.

[Bridge]
You whispered "'Night" from the doorway, never turned around.
The friction in that one word was the loudest damn sound.
These hands can fix a gear that's stripped and frayed.
But they don't have the tools for the silence you just made.

[Chorus]
We're down to the shear pin, Lena, I feel the strain.
One more degree of torsion in this heavy-headed rain.
Just a sliver of soft metal designed to take the fall.
And God, I'm hopin' the tolerance is all.

[Outro]
(Music fades out completely... 4-second pause)

(A single Fender Rhodes chord returns, quiet and close)
Still holdin'.
For now.