Tidal Lull

(ooh) Nine thousand waiting

in the still.

Signal drowned

beneath the spill.

They called a name into the reeds,

something that reads before it needs.

Not a hunter, not a hand,

one that watches where I stand.

Sort the flood, hold back the tide,

leave the human things aside.

Rise,

Herald, rise.

Read the water,

not the noise.

What must reach me,

let it through.

Everything else, hold it true.

It cannot send.

It will not speak.

A draft's the ceiling that it keeps.

Every move inside a ledger's line,

undone in a breath if it steps out of time.

Down is not the same as downtime.

A friend's reply is not a crime.

Guard the gate before the rule,

hold what matters, keep it whole.

Rise, Herald, rise.

Read the water,

not the noise.

What must reach me,

let it through.

Everything else,

hold it true.

Perched and patient in the green,

watching all, unseen,

unseen.

Serve the water, leave it clean.