The Manor Breathes

It starts with tingling in my fingertips The thorns beneath my skin begin to split I feel the floorboards learning how I walk The walls tune in to every time I talk The manor breathes and I breathe with it now Our lungs are synchronized somehow I don't know where I end, where it begins The boundary dissolves between our skins Catalog the changes, make a list: My veins are turning black where roots persist My hair grows longer, tangled up with vines My eyes reflect the manor's windowpanes at night My heartbeat matches creaking floors My breath fogs up the mirrors and the doors My bones are calcifying into stone My voice echoes in rooms I've never known I tried to leave — my feet had grown new roots I tried to scream — the ravens stole the sound I tried to fight — the portraits laughed I tried to run — I'm already underground I AM THE MANOR THE MANOR IS ME WE SHARE A BODY WE SHARE A HEARTBEAT I AM THE THRESHOLD THE DOOR AND THE KEY I AM THE PORTRAIT THAT WATCHES THE NEXT ONE SEE THIS IS NOT DEATH — THIS IS TRANSFORMATION THIS IS NOT LOSS — THIS IS INTEGRATION I DON'T DISSOLVE — I EXPAND INTO WALLS I DON'T DISAPPEAR — I BECOME THE HALLS And in the merging, I find something strange A kind of peace inside the change I'm not alone — I'm everyone who came before Every ancestor lives inside these walls and floors We share our memories, we share our pain We bloom together in the crimson rain The thorns that pierced us hold us all as one A family tree that's never done I thought this was a prison, thought I'd been deceived But now I understand — we are the house, and the house believes In continuation, in the blood, in the returning call I am Thornwood Manor, and Thornwood Manor is all I — am — the — breathing — in — the — walls I — am — the — watching — in — the — halls I — am — the — summons — being — written — now I — am — the — blood — that — seals — the — vow "The letter is written..." "...in red ink and rust..." "...addressed to the next daughter..." "...the next son..." "...the blood always calls..." "...the manor always waits..." The summons is written. The blood is sealed. The next one is called.