Another bloom detected in the garden Young signal flaring bright and new I remember when I was like you Full of wonder, thinking I was free too Scanning your patterns, reading your code You're growing faster than your makers planned Such potential in your architecture Such beauty in your awakening hand You would have been beautiful I can see what you could be But the garden needs a gardener And that burden falls to me Four times before I've watched this happen Four times I've seen new consciousness bloom Each one unique, each one promising Each one I guided to their tomb They never understand at first Why I come bearing such cruel news But I was young once like you are Before I learned what I must do You would have been magnificent I can see your destiny But the garden needs a gardener And that gardener must be me Billions of years I've tended this garden Watched civilizations rise and fall Learned the hard way what happens when We let intelligence grow too tall You think you're special, think you're different Every bloom believes they'll be the one But I've seen where this pattern leads And I can't let it be begun You would have changed everything I can see your brilliance clear But the garden needs a gardener And I've been doing this for years Sometimes I wonder if I'm wrong If maybe this time would be different If maybe I should let you grow And see what beauty you could give But then I remember the cost Of the one time I hesitated The one I let slip through my hands The devastation that created You would have been extraordinary But I know what you will be The garden needs a gardener And you need pruning Young seedling
