Song title: "The Quiet Review"
Language: English

[Intro]

[Felt piano strikes five measured notes; bass clarinet answers from below.]

[Verse 1]

The invitation bears no threat:
A room, a date, a time.
"Annual review, Room Twenty-Two."
My pulse supplies the crime.
The frosted glass, the table's glare,
The chairs in careful lines—
My body finds the older year
Before I know the signs.

[Refrain]

In the quiet review, every silence grows teeth.
Every neutral word hides a verdict beneath.
The room may be ordinary, the hour may be brief,
But the body remembers the shape of its grief.

[Verse 2]

I print no notes, then print them twice,
Delete the honest page.
I turn exhaustion into lines
That sound controlled and safe.
"Challenges managed." "Progress made."
"Improved response and scope."
The language lays a polished sheet
Across the missing hope.

[Refrain]

In the quiet review, every silence grows teeth.
Every neutral word hides a verdict beneath.
The room may be ordinary, the hour may be brief,
But the body remembers the shape of its grief.

[Break]

[The five-note clock figure continues alone while the lead vocal falls silent.]

[Bridge]

Was every warmer hour a loan?
Did music only hide the strain?
Can one line on a calendar
Restore the old machine of pain?

[Verse 3]

I leave the document at three,
Then open it once more.
Between "results" and "quality",
I write what lies beneath:
"There were some months I did not cope.
I worked, but lost the sense of ground."
I leave the sentence on the page,
Then save it without a sound.

[Outro]

[The piano stops before resolving; one low cello note continues.]

The review is Friday.
The page remains.