Mind the Step

Instrumental Intro

Spoken Verse

Sit down Mister Ashford

You look like a man who reads the fine print

Good

I admire a careful reader

Spoken Verse

Your signature sits on page forty-two

Paragraph nine

The one your lawyer skimmed

You initialed away a river

A rail line

And the name your father gave you

Instrumental Break

Spoken Verse

I am not a cruel man

Cruelty is inefficient

I am a patient man

Patience compounds like interest

Spoken Verse

The building you love

The one with the brass elevators

It answers to me now

Quietly

The way a door answers a hinge

Instrumental Break

Spoken Verse

Pour yourself something dark

You will want it later

When the phone rings

And the voice on the wire

Says your account has been closed

Politely

Spoken Verse

Everyone signs

Everyone

The widow signs

The poet signs

The boy who swore he never would

Instrumental Break

Spoken Verse

You may keep the pen

A small kindness

Consider it severance

From everything you thought you owned

Spoken Verse

Good evening Mister Ashford

Mind the step on your way down