SHEAR WALL

[Verse 1]
The J.J. Fish box steaming on the porch rail, Saturday, late July, 'round three.
Ant's laughing at a story that ain't funny, I see the spalling on the balcony.
The heat comes off the aggregate concrete, a wavy kinda shimmer in the air.
He's showing me the new retaining wall he built, a perfect line, a contractor's prayer.
I'm nodding, checking joints, the rebar spacing, my mind is somewhere else, a different place.
I'm cataloging every hairline crack I see, the tension showing on her face.
This moment's almost perfect, charcoal smoke and cheap rosé in plastic cups.
And I'm already mourning it before it's gone, before the whole damn thing erupts.

[Chorus]
They look so good on paper, the blueprint's clean.
But the rebar's showing through the mezzanine.
Do I draw a red line? Do I let it be?
This foundation ain't level, far as I can see.

[Spoken Word Interlude]
(A woman's voice, bright and a little too loud)
"I swear, I left my phone at work," she told him laughing.
But I saw it light up in her purse, the screen was cracking.

[Verse 2]
She bought him a new keychain for the Benz, the kind that I had bought for Simone.
That little tell, that echo, that design flaw—it hits you right down to the bone.
I gotta keep my own head level, play my part, talk Braves scores, pass the ice.
He says he's never been this happy, says it slow, he's gotta say it twice.
The grade on this ain't level, you can see the slope, the water's gonna pool and sink and rot.
I'm thinking 'bout my third time in the lawyer's office, the empty parking lot.
And I'm wondering, is he even on the level? Does he know? Or is he just the client now?
Watching the kudzu cover up the property line, and just accepting it somehow.

[Chorus]
They look so good on paper, the blueprint's clean.
But the rebar's showing through the mezzanine.
Do I draw a red line? Do I let it be?
This foundation ain't level, far as I can see.

[Outro]
A Delta jet is banking low above the trees.
Just trying to find the level through the humidity. Trying to find the level.