Track 03 · The Coming Storm
An Ode
to Nuada
A meditation on loss, restoration, and the part of a person neither can define.
Credits
- Written by
- Mary Flynn
- Arranged by
- Sisters Erie
- Lead vocal
- Mary Flynn
Behind the song
Room to stand.
Mary was drawn less to Nuada the legendary king than to the man beneath the legend—to an idea of wholeness that could neither be removed by loss nor granted through restoration.
As the sisters arranged the song, it became progressively quieter. Every attempt to make its central lines more dramatic only made them less powerful. In the final arrangement, they are simply given room to stand.
You stood.
Nothing taken could unmake you,
Nothing given made you whole.
The words
Lyrics
Once you knew no measure
but the sword in your hand.
No count of days.
No thought of ending.
No name for what could be taken.
They brought you silver.
Bright as moon on water.
Cold where blood had been.
All called it wonder.
You said nothing.
Silver remembers the shape of the hand.
The hand remembers the sword.
The scar—
remembers more.
Flesh answered flesh.
Bone answered bone.
The wound closed.
The crown came back.
So did the hand.
Not the man.
You had lost the hand—
and lived.
Lost the crown—
and lived.
Lost the man you thought you were—
and lived.
A throne is only a chair.
A sword is only iron.
A hand is only flesh.
Then came the younger man.
You looked at him.
You looked at the chair.
You opened your hand.
You stood.
Nothing taken could unmake you.
Nothing given made you whole.
Silver remembers the shape of the hand.
The hand remembers the sword.
The king remembers the man.
No hand holds forever.
No king keeps the day.
Morning comes.