Verse 1
Ten centimeters of a secret life,
Nine grams dancing on a reed so light,
I heard you before I saw your face,
That high, thin call in a quiet place.
You hang upside-down like you don’t feel fear,
Marshland acrobat every season of the year,
Tiny bird in the early sun,
Doing things that can’t be undone.
Pre-Chorus
You move where the water meets the trees,
Every step a careful balancing act in the breeze.
Chorus
Thread by thread, you build your home,
Plant fibres, wool, spider silk sewn,
Hanging high above the stream,
One of Europe’s strangest dreams.
Soft enough they wore it once,
Children’s slippers — strange but true,
I’m standing here just watching you,
Do what only you can do.
Verse 2
A pear-shaped nest on a willow line,
Suspended where the danger climbs,
A narrow tube that leads the way,
Or maybe leads the eyes astray.
Some doors are real, some doors deceive,
A hidden entrance meant to keep
Eggs safe from what might come too close,
You learned that lesson almost alone.
Pre-Chorus
You don’t stay where love is safe,
You don’t promise, you don’t wait.
Chorus
Thread by thread, love comes and goes,
One stays, one leaves — nobody knows,
Male or female, either might run,
Before the work is fully done.
Some nests go cold, some never wake,
Forty percent are left to fate,
It’s a choice written deep inside,
Not every heart is meant to stay.
Verse 3
Some of you leave when the winters bite,
Flying south through colder nights,
Others stay where the reeds still grow,
Southern sun, familiar home.
From Europe east to distant land,
Even Morocco knows your sound,
Widespread wings, but hard to see,
A master of quiet mystery.
Bridge
This isn’t cruel, it isn’t wrong,
It’s just the way you’ve carried on,
A strategy the wild once chose,
Survival stitched in how it goes.
Final Chorus
Thread by thread, above the tide,
A tiny architect defies the size,
Ten centimetres, nine grams strong,
Still builds a place where myths belong.
High-pitched calls in reedbeds thin,
You hear the song before the wings,
Love that leaves, homes that sway,
You survive your own strange way.
Outro
And I walk away softer somehow,
Knowing what you know now,
That even the smallest life can hold
A story too wild to be told.