Pat‑a‑cake [palm‑slap x2, board‑snap; war drum four beam‑cracks; tagelharpa B drone; guitars/bass chug‑rung‑chug, feedback into next bar] [female lead, flat, loud] Pat‑a‑cake, pat‑a‑cake, baker’s man [male growls, under] Man… [female lead] Roll me, build me, mark me B—the game’s palm‑heat and thigh‑check behind the pantry door; every “pat” lands lower till the apron’s a rope. [male growls] Lower… [female lead] She bites the loaf to keep from naming him. Ring‑a‑ring o’ roses [children’s circle implied by boot‑scuffs; war drum halved, space‑heavy; tagelharpa bow‑weight] [female lead, flat] Ring‑a‑ring o’ roses, pocket full, a‑tishoo [male growls] Shoo… [female lead] Breath hitches on “we all fall down”—not play, actual chokework on the rug, faces violet, petit‑mort as party favor; posies hide the spit. [male growls] Down… [female lead] First to load the sneeze buys next round. Humpty Dumpty [wall‑creak, body‑thud; war drum single post‑crack + gaps; tagelharpa B–F bow‑drag] [female lead, flat] Humpty sat on a wall [male growls] Wall… [female lead] All the king’s horses and men couldn’t lift what she’d pushed out of him; courtyard tile remembers the puddle‑shape and the boot‑prints around it. [male growls] Prints… [female lead] She wipes her thumb and calls it work. Rock‑a‑bye baby [cradle‑rope creak, branch‑groan; war drum 1‑beat sub‑thud + long gaps; guitars chug like wind‑load] [female lead, flat] Rock‑a‑bye baby in the treetop [male growls] Top… [female lead] Limb breaks when mother’s riding the cradle‑arc; down comes baby, cradle, and the secret tucked in swaddle—nanny counts branches on the way, keeps the sheet. [male growls] Sheet… [female lead] Wind keeps rocking nothing. [*Outro*] [war drum 40‑BPM beam‑fall, bow‑wood dragged to string‑pop; guitars/bass feedback] [female lead, worn] Rhymes are statements [female lead, flat] Amplifiers are witnesses
