A City Built by Coral

A polyp the size of a pinhead, soft and small Builds itself a skeleton, a tiny stone wall Then it splits, and splits again, a colony grows Century by century, a city of stone starts to compose

A city built by coral, a city built by trillions A city built by coral, home to a quarter of the ocean's citizens No architect drew the plans, no crew laid the ground Just small lives building small walls, and the walls became a town

Inside every polyp lives an algae, tucked in tight Trading sugar for shelter, and the sugar comes from light That's where the color comes from, that living paint job glows Take the algae away, and the whole city turns to bone-white and slows

A city built by coral, a city built by trillions A city built by coral, home to a quarter of the ocean's citizens Clownfish in the branches, sharks along the wall Turtles passing through like tourists, seeing it all

It took thousands of years to build what a storm can crack in one night Or a few degrees of extra warmth to bleach it out of sight Fragile under all that patience, never forever guaranteed Precise, and slow, and exactly what the reef fish need

A city built by coral, a city built by trillions A city built by coral, home to a quarter of the ocean's citizens Smaller than your fingernail, and together they raise A skyline underwater that outlasts most of our days