[Verse 1] I was born where the fresh waters meet the deep. Apsu in my marrow. Nammu in my name. They called me Enki. Lord of the sweet flow. Keeper of what rises from mud to roofbeam. I do not come from thunder alone. I come from craft. From the hand that knows the jar, the canal, the brick. From the first clean pool cut into clay. From the mouth that teaches the people how to live. My house is Eridu. Old before many names had teeth. There the reeds bend low for me. There the fish turn silver in my wake. There the fish trap and the irrigation ditch are one lesson: feed the field, and the field feeds you back. [Pre-Chorus] I hold the hidden thing. I hold the open thing. I know the pattern under the flood. I know the remedy under the fever. I know how to make a city stand and how to keep it breathing. [Chorus] I am Enki, I am Enki the water beneath the wall I am Enki, I am Enki I teach the hands that build it all Mud to brick, breath to name I keep the river in the flame I am Enki, I am Enki call me when the world won’t stay [Verse 2] They say wisdom is only a crown. No. Wisdom is a channel. Wisdom is a plan scratched in damp earth before the harvest or the grave. I speak in measures. I speak in knots. I speak in the quiet math of abundance. When the river threatens, I do not panic. When the river hides, I do not curse. I send the men to dig. I send the women to store. I send the future through a gate no drought can lock. My chamber is lined with the things I love: fresh water, dark fish, bright copper, cedar scent, beeswax, barley. Not luxury. Tools. Not pride. Use. [Pre-Chorus] I keep the secret names. I keep the making names. The boat-maker’s word. The midwife’s word. The mason’s word that sets the wall and the mercy word that opens it. [Chorus] I am Enki, I am Enki the water beneath the wall I am Enki, I am Enki I teach the hands that build it all Mud to brick, breath to name I keep the river in the flame I am Enki, I am Enki call me when the world won’t stay [Verse 3] My wife is Damgalnuna. She stands with the house I raise. She knows the weight of keeping. She knows the silence after rain. With her, the household has a spine. With her, the bread is not a rumor. My son is Marduk, though the tale of him grows in other mouths.
