The Negotiator

You don't have to fight tonight

You've been disciplined all week

White-knuckled through every need

You earned a break

You earned relief

One small slip

No one will see

One small taste

Won't bury me

Why hold the line

When you could bend?

You'll fix it tomorrow

In the end

I am the negotiator

I speak in justified lies

I make the moment sweeter

And mortgage the sunrise

Just this once

Just one more time

I turn surrender

Into a rhyme

You call it weakness

I call it rest

You call it failure

I call it stress

You deserve comfort

You deserve ease

What's discipline

Without release?

You've held your breath

You've played it clean

What's one indulgence

In between?

I am the negotiator

I whisper compromise

I make the present louder

And silence long-term cries

Just this once

Just one more time

I blur the warning

With a perfect line

You know how this ends

You said that last time

This time is different

That's the same design

I am the negotiator

I make it feel alright

I trade your future

For tonight

Just this once

Just one more time

I dress the fall

As a climb