(Intro — Piano Figure, River Field Recording, Female Sustained Note) [Piano plays a four-note figure: A - C - E - D. It repeats. And repeats. A river flows underneath. Female voice sustains a single note — A — barely audible.] (Male voice, spoken in rhythm): Is it self-sabotage... to value yourself... by your output... (Piano continues. The figure is the same. But something is different. The marimba enters — one note, held.) (Verse 1 — Spoken, Piano Figure Continues) I learned to earn my place before I learned to breathe I learned to prove my worth before I learned to be It kept me safe, it kept me loved, or so it seemed But now it's keeping me trapped in a dream (Piano figure. Marimba adds a second note. Cello enters — low drone, sustained.) A dream where rest is laziness and love is a fee Where I am only worthy if I'm producing Where I am only human if I am useful Where I am only loved if I am proving (Female sustained note shifts — A to B, barely perceptible.) (Chorus — Spoken, Full Ensemble, Piano Figure Continues) I am the tree on the rocky cliff I am the river that curves and shifts I don't produce, I don't earn, I don't prove I simply exist, and that is enough (Piano. Marimba. Cello. Glass harmonica enters — a high, shimmering tone.) I am the tree, I am the river I am the fire alarm, quiet and still I am the tree, I am the river I am worthy because I am, not because I will (Female sustained note shifts — B to C. The piano figure is still the same. But it sounds different now.) (Verse 2 — Spoken, Ensemble Grows) A fire engine is dramatic and loud It saves lives when the fire is already proud But a fire alarm sits quiet on the wall It saves more lives before the fire can call (Piano figure. Marimba adds a third note. Cello drone deepens. Glass harmonica shimmers.) I've been living like a fire engine, running to crisis Never resting, never preventing, never priceless But the fire alarm invites me to break the cycle To rest before I collapse, to care before I'm fragile (Female sustained note shifts — C to D. The piano figure has not changed. The listener has.) (Bridge — Spoken, Ensemble Strips, Then Rebuilds) [Piano figure continues alone. Cello drops out. Marimba drops out. Glass harmonica fades. Just piano and voice.] Grieve the provider. Write him a letter. Thank him for what he did. Tell him he can rest now. Let him go. (Pause. Piano figure continues. Marimba re-enters — one note at a time.) Water your own plant. Tend your own roots. Become the person who cares for the conditions that allow you to bloom. (Cello re-enters. Glass harmonica re-enters. Female sustained note shifts — D to E.) Name the old voice. Separate the thought from the fact. Do one small thing that has no output. Set one boundary. Find one person who sees you. Reparent yourself. (Full ensemble. Piano figure continues. All instruments now present.) The tree does not apologize for resting in winter. The river does not apologize for flowing slowly. The fire alarm does not apologize for being quiet. They are what they are. And they are enough. (Chorus — Spoken, Full Ensemble, Piano Figure Transforms) I am the tree on the rocky cliff I am the river that curves and shifts I don't produce, I don't earn, I don't prove I simply exist, and that is enough (Piano figure shifts for the first time — the fourth note changes from D to E. The figure has transformed. The tree has grown a ring.) I am the tree, I am the river I am the fire alarm, quiet and still I am the tree, I am the river I am worthy because I am, not because I will (Female sustained note returns to A — the note from the intro. But it is no longer the same note. It is the same pitch, but it means something different now.) (Outro — Piano Figure Alone, Female Sustained Note, Field Recording) [All instruments drop out except piano. The figure continues. River field recording returns. Female voice holds a single note — A.] (Male voice, spoken, quiet): You are not a machine You are not a resource You are not a line item in a budget (Piano figure continues. It has not changed. It will not change. It simply is.) You are a person You have a soul You have a story You have survived things that would break most people (Female sustained note fades. Piano figure continues alone.) The tree does not apologize The river does not apologize The fire alarm does not apologize And neither do you (Piano figure repeats. And repeats. And fades. Silence.)
