[Verse 1] I am Lahmu. Born first from the water’s breath, from the deep that had no shore. I stood when the dark was still, when names had not yet learned to settle. I am the rough one. The silt on the fingers of creation. The tide-mark left on the reed bed. The older brother of the first silence, the one who keeps watch at the edge. My beard is the river’s fringe. My steps are the mud’s memory. I did not arrive in glory. I rose from the mingled waters and held my place. [Verse 2] I was not made to be gentle. I was made to endure. I am boundary and bearing, the first shape the waters could wear. They call me guardian. They call me ancient. They call me the one who stands where the abyss begins to dream. Beside me was Lahamu, my companion in the first dawn, my spouse in the first naming. We were the pair before the crowds, the union before the houses, the root before the branches. [Pre-Chorus] From us came the old line, the long line, the bright line. From us came the ones who would rise into rank and radiance, into storm and crown. We were the gate. We were the threshold. We were the deep remembered. [Chorus] Lahmu, I was first Lahmu, I was first Mud and water, stone and watch Lahmu, I stood my ground Lahmu, I stood my ground Before the gods had names to launch [Verse 3] My dominion is the place where things begin to hold. The bank that keeps the flood. The root that grips the bank. The old strength under all your banners. I am aligned with the deep, not its chaos alone, but its patience. The old sea knows my name because I do not flee its weight. My children are the line that follows. The elder gods that came after. Those born into distance, those born into power, those who would learn the art of rule. I did not seek a throne. I sought continuity. A world that could last long enough to be spoken. [Bridge] Look close at me. I am not ornament. I am not a tale told for comfort. I am the first male face the waters ever lifted. I am the rough hymn, the watch at the gate, the hand on the door of becoming. And Lahamu— my equal, my companion, my own first mirror— she knew the same deep, the same dark mercy, the same fierce beginning. [Chorus] Lahmu, I was first Lahmu, I was first Mud and water, stone and watch Lahmu, I stood my ground Lahmu, I stood my ground Before the gods had names to launch [Outro] Remember me as origin, as threshold, as the elder shore. Remember us before the rest, before the rise, before the roar.
