No Center (Federation without domination)
(Sparse, steady rhythm - hand percussion, low strings)
Verse 1
We don’t need one place to gather,
We don’t need one voice to speak,
Every time we build a center,
Something quiet turns to weak.
I’m not here to lead you forward,
I’m not here to make a plan,
I’m here to pass a message
From one circle to the next by hand.
Chorus
No center.
No crown.
No map that covers every town.
If it has to know us all,
It’s already too big now.
Verse 2
We can share what’s working,
We can warn about what failed,
But no one gets to issue orders
Just because their graph looks scaled.
If you don’t like what we’re doing,
You don’t have to stay aligned,
Federation isn’t unity
It’s consent that can unwind.
Chorus
No center.
No throne.
No system that outgrows the known.
If it can’t be questioned easily,
It doesn’t get to stand alone.
Bridge (spoken, careful, human)
I don’t want your data.
I don’t want your metrics.
I don’t want to optimize you.
I want to know
who to call
when something breaks
that we can’t fix alone.
Verse 3
We’ll use tools, but name the limits,
Write the rules where all can see,
If a process can’t be explained
It doesn’t get authority.
Nothing auto-renews forever,
Nothing scales without debate,
If it starts deciding for us,
That’s when we fork - not wait.
Chorus
No centre.
No spine.
No “one last update” this time.
If it needs obedience to function,
It’s already crossed the line.
Verse 4
Coordination’s not a platform,
It’s a promise we repeat,
That if power starts to gather,
We’re allowed to break the sheet.
We don’t need it fast or seamless,
We don’t need it always on,
We need it slow enough to notice
When the people want it gone.
Final Chorus (steady, resolved)
No center.
No king.
No algorithm deciding who’s in.
Just bridges we can burn ourselves
If they stop remembering
what they’re for.
Outro
They’ll call this fragile.
They’ll call it inefficient.
They’ll call it impossible to govern.
That’s fine.
It wasn’t built to govern.
It was built
so no one could ever say again,
“I didn’t know who was in charge.”