The poem starts with someone lying down, eyes closed, watching wishes run off into the dark like light that never stops moving away. Dreams are there, but they stay out of reach. Then the focus shifts to the waking world. "Dark shades" and an "income-subtracted rainbow" suggest that hope has been cut down by money trouble, so even beauty has to be paid for.
The last section piles up gambling and hardship imagery: "black odds," "black chips," "black blues," and "back dues." Judging by the wordplay, the speaker sees luck and fairness as rigged, and the repeated word "black" may point to race as well as bad fortune, though the poem never says so directly. The mood is weary and bitter, with a bit of wry humor in the rhymes. Still, it ends on a turn: the "oils of life rust out," but the "coils of spring must sprout." Something stubborn and hopeful pushes back against the decay.