I tightened the repeated ideas and kept the story’s arc: imitation, failure, then movement of his own. # SHOW ME [Intro — Gong, wooden clappers; distant taiko] [Low male voice] First, I learned to stand. Then how to fall. [Sharp sword swish] HAI! [Silence] [Whispered] Who taught me to move? [Verse 1 — Rhythmic spoken delivery] I watched his hands. I took his stance. I learned the strike. I learned the dance. A thousand falls. A thousand tries. His way of moving in my eyes. One morning, he stepped aside. [Calm voice] “Show me a move that isn’t mine.” [Pre-Chorus] I raised my hands. I found his pose. “Why do you move the way I do?” “Because I learned it all from you.” [Silence] “Then what have you learned?” [Chorus — Aggressive chant] Learn the rhythm! Break the pattern! [Metallic clash] HAI! Thank the teacher! Find the movement! [Taiko impact] YAH! Step. Turn. Let go. Know the form. Then break the form. MOVE! [Percussion break — Clappers, taiko, gamelan; brief sword accents] [Verse 2 — Tight, syncopated delivery] I built my world from borrowed lines. I moved like him. I called it mine. Then came a strike I couldn’t read. I knew the form— [Silence] —but not my feet. I held my ground. The ground gave way. The rules I knew could not stay. [Martial arts cry] HEI-YAH! [Chorus] Learn the rhythm! Break the pattern! [Metallic clash] HAI! Thank the teacher! Find the movement! [Taiko impact] YAH! Step. Turn. Let go. Know the form. Then break the form. MOVE! [Breakdown — Sparse taiko, wooden clappers] [Close, spoken] I thought an empty hand was something I should fill— [Wooden strike] With knowledge. [Wooden strike] With power. [Wooden strike] With certainty. [Low taiko] The tighter I held on, the less I could move. [Bridge — Bare voice, single gamelan note] Take away the name. Take away the form. No road ahead. No hand to follow. If no one leads, if no path is found— can your own feet answer the ground? [Silence] [Final Chorus — Controlled chant] Know the rhythm. Leave the pattern. Thank the teacher. Find your movement. Step. Turn. Let go. Feet on the earth. Breath in my chest. Hands open wide. No need to impress. MOVE! [Outro — Fading clappers and gamelan] [Softly] I went back to the master. He said, “Show me.” I raised my hands. Then lowered them. [Breath] And moved.
