[Cold Open — solo mezzo, unaccompanied, intimate, immediately recognizable four-note motif] One sky above… One sky below… [Soft breath. A low answering note. Pulse enters.] [Verse 1 — close voice, quiet repeating motif] The bridge was cold against my palm, the river barely moved. A broken lamp beside the bank laid gold across the blue. I looked for something in the water, just a place to rest my eyes— then between two passing ripples I saw another sky. [Pre-Chorus — restrained, one higher answering voice enters] Above me: distance. Below me: light. I didn’t move. The world grew wide. [Chorus — intimate melodic hook, choir answers in soft counterpoint] One sky above, one sky below, the same small stars, two ways to glow. I thought the dark was closing in; it opened when I looked again. One sky above, one sky below. [Choir, very softly] Above… Below… [Instrumental Interlude — no words, eight bars] [Pass the four-note melody from low instrument to high voices, then back; allow silence between phrases.] [Verse 2 — rhythmic spoken-sung mezzo, warmer harmonies] A train moved slowly through the trees, its windows crossed the stream. For half a breath the water carried people I would never meet. The windows broke to silver threads, then gathered one by one; and when the final carriage vanished, the second sky went on. [Pre-Chorus 2 — solo voice rises, background voices do not resolve] Above me: silence. Below me: sound. The sky kept moving. I stood my ground. [Bridge — choir retreats to a low, unison hum] I tried to name the feeling. The name got in the way. The river took my question, then gave the stars their place. [One unaccompanied solo high phrase, free and almost chant-like] Ah—ah—ah… [Answer from distant alto, then soprano, in imitation] Ooh… ah… [Hold the unresolved harmony.] [One complete beat of silence.] [Final Chorus — transformed hook, lead climbs, rich moving SSAA harmony] One sky above, one sky below, the same small stars, two ways to glow. I thought the dark was closing in; it opened when I looked again. One sky above, one sky below. [Upper choir repeats the hook while lower choir moves independently] The river broke the stars in pieces… They came back without a sound. [Outro — voices withdraw one by one, return to the original solo register] One sky above… One sky below… [One glasslike harmonic; natural decay; no spoken ending.]
