[Verse 1] Cold on your neck—no window open, chalk on the floor where choices spoken. Clock skips a beat; the room bends thin, something you lost says, breathe, begin. Pieces believe they are the war; I am the reason there is a board. Don’t look for me—I’m not a man; look at your hand, now see the plan. [Pre-Chorus] (reversed cello swells) Count back two, widen the frame— mercy is math that forgets your name. [Chorus] Move in the absence, let the living learn; hold back the flourish, let the angles turn. Move in the absence, kindness over noise— lead by the silence that remembers poise. Move in the absence… (the board knows) [Post-Chorus Chop] move in the absence—move in the absence… [Verse 2] I was a mouth; now I’m a margin, ghost in the hinge where doors start barging. You want a hero? Shift one square— save both sides by leaving air. Victory’s cheap when futures starve; balance is hunger that chose to starve. Let the loud sword sleep tonight— play the lantern, not the fight. [Pre-Chorus] Step off the line; hearing is sight— what you don’t take makes others right. [Chorus] Move in the absence, let the living learn; hold back the flourish, let the angles turn. Move in the absence, kindness over noise— lead by the silence that remembers poise. Move in the absence… (the board knows) [Bridge] (whisper choir answers; heartbeat kick skips) (Whisper) I don’t touch pieces; I haunt the rules— (Lead) I keep the river where rage would pool. (Whisper) Trade one win for a thousand breaths— (Lead) Let small losses cancel deaths. (Whisper) If you can’t see me, then check your sway— (Lead) You moved because I stepped away. [Instrumental] (reversed cello harmonics; glass ticks; bowed metal shiver; low sine glides a fifth) [Chorus – Lift] Move in the absence, let the living learn; leave room for echoes—watch the pattern turn. Move in the absence, kindness over noise— lead by the silence that returns us choice. Move in the absence… (the board knows, the board knows) [Post-Chorus Chop – Extended] move in the absence—move in the absence— (back-echo whispers L/R) [Coda] If you feel colder, you’re not alone— that’s only context finding home. When I am nowhere, you’ll hear me most: a careful move, a grateful ghost. (reverb-choked fifths… pencil-scratch across tape; hiss fades)
