Kaiku

[Intro-INSTRUMENTAL ONLY. Talking drum, shekere, bass and clean guitar enter together, restrained. NO vocals.]

[Verse 1-ZSORAYII ONLY, warm intimate female vocal]

You called it only a pebble,

too small to leave a scar.

You tossed it without thinking,

never wondering where it might land.

But some cracks arrive in silence,

too fine for anyone to see.

The window stays inside its frame,

but light no longer enters the same.

[Pre-Chorus-ZSORAYII]

You saw the glass still standing,

so you thought that nothing broke.

But a fracture doesn't need a sound

to change everything it holds.

[Chorus-ZSORAYII, drums and guitar build equally]

You called it a pebble,

the glass called it a crack.

You walked away from the moment,

but the moment didn't walk back.

One careless throw,

one line across the light.

The glass is still standing,

but something changed inside.

[Verse 2-ZSORAYII, rhythmic and melodic]

A voice that once filled every room

starts measuring every word.

Feet that raced toward open doors

now wait to enter first.

A mirror hangs where it always did,

but the eyes don't linger long.

And laughter that once came easily

starts wondering if it belongs.

[Build-ZSORAYII, percussion thickening]

One word.

One crack.

One joke.

Another.

One voice joins the laughter,

another line appears.

No shattered glass upon the floor,

so nobody thinks to look here.

[Chorus 2-ZSORAYII, stronger]

You called it a pebble,

the glass called it a crack.

You never heard it breaking,

so you thought it stayed intact.

But courage can bend like light,

confidence can fracture quietly.

A window can remain in place

while changing everything you see.

[Instrumental Collision-8 bars. Heavy African percussion, bass and distorted punk guitar share equal weight. NO guitar solo.]

[Verse 3-ZSORAYII, controlled intensity]

You never entered that house,

but something you said did.

You never closed the curtains,

but someone learned to hide.

Five seconds of laughter for you

can cast a shadow through years.

The mouth that started the moment moves on;

another heart keeps it near.

You never touched the mirror,

but someone stopped looking there.

You never dimmed the daylight,

but suddenly brightness felt bare.

The pebble had already left your hand

before the first thin fracture grew.

How strange that something small to one

can change another person's view.

[Bridge-heartbeat drum, bass, sparse clean guitar. ZSORAYII intimate]

Before you throw the pebble,

look beyond your hand.

You may never see the window.

You may never know where it lands.

Not everything broken

falls where everyone can see.

Not every wound announces

what it quietly takes away.

[Short Build-ZSORAYII]

So tell me,

how small is small

when someone else

must carry it?

[Final Chorus-ZSORAYII, maximum rhythmic intensity, melodic not shouted]

You called it a pebble,

the glass called it a crack.

You gave it only seconds;

someone else can't give them back.

So choose what leaves your hands.

Choose what leaves your lips.

You never know which little stone

will find an unseen weakness.

Broken glass can carry light.

Broken glass can still be strong.

But every beam bends differently

after something has gone wrong.

The glass may never hit the floor.

The world may never know.

Sometimes the deepest fracture

is the one that doesn't show.

[Outro-instruments gradually stripping away. ZSORAYII soft and intimate]

You called it a pebble.

You thought it was so small.

But if the glass could answer...

would you still call it small?

[Final instruments fade. NO chant. NO additional vocals.]