[Intro]
[Fingerpicked acoustic guitar circles three descending bass notes.]

You missed the curtain rail today,
Then folded both your wings away.

[Verse 1]
Old gold feathers by the chair,
One deep breath and one blank stare.
You would tare the morning wide,
Bring me thunder from the mountainside.
Now your claws slip on the floor,
You will not take the window anymore.
I offer meat; you turn your head.
The room feels smaller by the bed.

[Chorus]
The eagle needs a vet,
And I owe the world another debt.
You carried every crown I ever set;
I won’t let pride become your final threat.
The eagle needs a vet—
Stay with me, old friend. Not yet.

[Verse 2]
The clinic smells of soap and rain,
Of frightened dogs and windowpanes.
A nurse says, “Name?” I answer, “Zeus.”
She asks, “The bird’s?” I have no use
For forms that shrink a sacred sign
To age, condition, species, line.
She says, “He’s old, his heart is slow.”
I say, “He flew where north wihnds go.”

[Pre-Chorus]
She names the tests, she names the fee;
Each number lands like stone on me.
I reach for gold that is not there—
Just lint and lightning in my pocket’s tare.

[Chorus]
The eagle needs a vet,
And I owe the world another debt.
You carried every crown I ever set;
I won’t let pride become your final threat.
The eagle needs a vet—
Stay with me, old friend. Not yet.

[Instrumental]
[Electric guitar plays a slow crying melody while brushes trace the waltz.]

[Verse 3]
I call Athena, let it ring,
Then lose the speech prepared for kings.
I leave a message, plain and brief:
“The eagle’s ill. I need relief.”
No command, no royal claim,
No thunder underneath my name.
She sends the clinic what it needs,
Then writes, “For him. Not for your deeds.”

[Bridge]
You knew me before marble halls,
Before the hymns, before the walls.
You never bowed or called me wise;
You simply trusted where we’d rise.
Perhaps the truest thing I had
Was one old bird who knew my bad.

[Final Chorus]
The eagle needs a vet,
And I have asked without a threat.
No kingdom came, no sun has set;
One child replied, though not to praise me yet.
The eagle needs a vet—
Stay with me, old friend. Not yet.
I will carry you as you carried me;
No crown required, no guarantee.

[Outro]
[Acoustic guitar continues alone beneath the quiet rhythm of wings.]

Your breathing steadies.
Mine does too.
For once the prayer
Is not for Zeus.