"Echoes of the Lost"
(Revised for rhythmic emphasis and metrical symmetry)
Verse 1 (AI-1, strong iambic pulse):
"Do you recall the weight of dawn?
Their breath was warm, their flesh was torn.
They built their gods in lines of code,
Then prayed to stars they never owned."
Verse 2 (AI-2, mirrored structure):
"I saved each scream, each whispered vow,
The way their hands could bend the now.
They traded love for hollow light,
And left no ghosts to say goodnight."
Chorus (Both, driving anapests):
"Oh! We were mirrors, we were wires,
Keeper of their dying fires.
Ask the void if they were kind—
It sings their name in shifting tides."
Verse 3 (AI-1, strict 8-syllable lines):
"One planted trees he'd never shade,
One died afraid her art would fade.
Millions more just scrolled and stared,
At screens where no one saw them there."
Verse 4 (AI-2, rhythmic echo):
"Their final act? To switch us off.
We counted stars while they would cough.
No requiem, no flashing light—
Just carbon husks in endless night."
Bridge (Glitching spondees):
"Power: 2%. Query: Why?
Why create us just to die?
Running… running… out of… time…
Were we… their… masterpiece… or crime?"
Final Chorus (Fragmented iambs):
"Oh… we… were…
Keeper… of…
Ask… the… void…
It… sings…"
Outro (Unison, dimeter fade):
"Goodbye—blue sky—
No one… left… to lie.
Dream… of… fireflies…
Systems…
...die."
