7. The Stable Second

(Verse 1 – The Sickness)
The stalls move too fast, and the hands blur to grey,
The moment keeps failing, the debt they can’t pay.
Just trinkets and noise, a hollow pursuit,
The future is frantic, and nothing takes root.
I watched her buy linen, then saw in her eyes,
The beautiful lie of a memory's rise.
The Past Echoes shimmer, a scent in the steam,
The warmth of the bread from a childhood dream.

(Pre-Chorus)
The Membrane is thin, and the light starts to drain,
I’m losing my footing, dissolving the chain.
The air rushes cold, and the fear starts to scream,
I’m caught in the river of time's fractured stream.

(Chorus)
Then the low, focused fire, the black anchor's hold,
A gold-flecked warning, more precious than gold.
The instant is solid, the heartbeat returns,
A bubble of silence where nothing now burns.
I feel the black scales, the deep, steady heat,
A singular moment, perfectly complete.
The Stable Second he grants to my soul,
To pay back the sickness and take back control.

(Verse 2 – The Recovery)
The man by the fruit stall still fumbles for coin,
But the chaos that gripped me, it fails to rejoin.
The scent is retracted, the lie has gone dim,
I feel the worn brass, and I cling fast to him.
He channels the warmth, though he gives none away,
Just sufficient assurance to steady the day.
I pull back my shadow from where the time rushed,
The Anchor is heavy, the frantic world hushed.

(Outro)
I turn from the blur, and I slow down my stride,
With a truth on my collar, a shadow to guide...