[Intro — wind and wires only, one voice close and flat] Throttle back. The engine dies. Nothing left but wind and wires. Hold the glide and keep it light. This is the sixth one tonight. [Verse 1 — two voices alternating, dry, unhurried] The aircraft is a trainer. Wood and glue. An open cockpit. Room for two. No armour and no gun to fire. Just her, and me, and wind, and wire. No parachutes. They took the space and filled it with the load we place. If something finds us in the black we ride it down. We don't come back. Two hundred metres. The ground is that near. From here you don't jump. You just hold it and steer. [Chorus — both voices together, still quiet] They do not hear an engine. There is none. They hear the wires singing, and we're gone. They gave the name. We did not ask for it. We kept it. It is accurate. It fits. [Verse 2 — the engine catches and climbs, loud, then settles] Land. Reload. The ground crew runs. Eleven minutes. Then she guns the engine up and we go back. This is the seventh. Then the eighth. My hands have stopped from being cold. I cannot feel the stick I hold. She does not ask me how I am. There is no part of this to plan. We do not want to die up here. She is twenty. I am nineteen this year. [Chorus] They do not hear an engine. There is none. They hear the wires singing, and we're gone. They gave the name. We did not ask for it. We kept it. It is accurate. It fits. [Bridge — everything drops to one voice and the wires] The light comes up and finds us wide. There is nowhere in the sky to hide. She puts the nose down. I hold the strap. The light goes past. We do not know why. [Final Chorus — both voices, a little louder, no swell] They do not hear an engine. There is none. They hear the wires singing, and we're gone. They gave the name. We did not ask for it. We kept it. It is accurate. It fits. [Outro — wires only, voice flat and tired] The sky goes grey. We count them as they land. One place stays empty at the end. Nobody says it. Someone writes the name. We sleep till noon. Tonight the same. [End — wires continue and fade, no cut]
