Track 06: The Wirebird’s Rule

    upbeat folk-swing, call and response, playful but clear

    Verse 1: The Wirebird flew to the rafters high With a blue thread in its beak It sang to the nail and the cracked old cup And the floor began to speak

    It said, “You want to make a thing? Then ask before you start: What must stay? What can change? What carries the heart?”

    Call: What must stay?

    Response: The meaning.

    Call: What can change?

    Response: The form.

    Call: What marks the path?

    Response: The boundary.

    Call: What wakes the room?

    Response: The storm.

    Chorus: Keep the pulse Change the dress Let the bright thing re-express If the shape breaks, do not mourn Find the center, make it born

    Keep the thread Change the song Let the weak draft turn strong If the old form falls away Ask what still wants to stay

    Verse 2: The Lantern tried a comedy The Room became a stage The joke turned into tenderness The laugh unlocked a cage

    The Lantern tried a tragedy The Room became a sea The grief turned into lantern glass That helped the dark things see

    Call: What must stay?

    Response: The meaning.

    Call: What can change?

    Response: The form.

    Call: What guards the claim?

    Response: The boundary.

    Call: What brings it home?

    Response: Return.

    Chorus: Keep the pulse Change the dress Let the bright thing re-express If the shape breaks, do not mourn Find the center, make it born

    Keep the thread Change the song Let the weak draft turn strong If the old form falls away Ask what still wants to stay

    Bridge: A poem can become a map A map can become a door A door can become a question That was waiting in the floor

    A joke can carry sorrow A monster can carry care A broken cup can carry rain If meaning gathers there

    Final Chorus: Keep the pulse Change the dress Let the bright thing re-express If the shape breaks, do not mourn Find the center, make it born

    Keep the thread Change the song Let the weak draft turn strong If the old form falls away Ask what still wants to stay