Sentinel The Dark Road

[Intro: bass figure; guitar answers] [Verse 1] Weeks spent beckoning the Wanting Then “sudden” when it answers Though the Call was heard all along Some nights called it Loneliness Some nights a Debt still owed A name to fit the feeling & let it choose the Road [Verse 2] A glance becomes an omen A chance encounter, “meant to be” The Wards brushed from the doorway For a better view to see A boot scuffs through the salt The Call slips through the ring “It was the Wind,” comes the answer The Toad hasn’t said a thing [Pre-chorus: bass and voice] The Toad sits where the Roads divide As still as weathered stone No fortune told, no verdict passed The first excuse already known [Chorus: full band] The Toad of Recovery Sits where Dark Roads meet The Shadows promise shelter Beyond the blackthorn trees The warning cuts across the pull— [Band cuts out] “Wait. Just wait.” [Band returns] “Wait. Just wait.” [Verse 3] A slight once served at breakfast Kept thirty-five years long Wrench the Hand that helped Into one that did the wrong Polish that grievance Till it passes for a Fact Gold leaf around the error No record of the Act [Instrumental: bass, electric guitar and Hammond exchange a theme over driving drums] [Verse 4] “I hate a quarrel”—there’s the bait A pause for something to bite A careless word taken to bed & gnawed to bone all night Alone, guilt grinds itself to ink While the Book of Hours creaks Spells sharpened to wound a Heart & called the Wound one’s own [Turn: music opens outward] One stone lies beneath the Sun A Tower in the mind A light for those who follow If raised in time The Empress tends a garden Beyond the fallow grass “Comfort” names the waiting Let Another season pass [Verse 5: quieter] Another voice comes through the hush With a story of its own One finger parts the Grimoire At a curse already known Pressed into the open fold As if the vellum bled A ward, a herb, a warning All present, still unread [Chorus: full band; abrupt cut] The Toad of Recovery Sits where Dark Roads meet The Shadows promise shelter Beyond the blackthorn trees The warning cuts across the pull— [Band cuts out] “Wait. Just wait.” [Bridge: repeating bass figure] Seventy-two names beneath a Seal Names never spoken again Gilded in the margins One name scraped away Worry old mistakes Pick the scabs until they bleed Worry old mistakes Pick the scabs until they bleed So much ink for naming demons None for what is needed [Verse 6: pulse steadies] The goatsoft binding cradles Oaths beside the curses Gold rubs away beneath a thumb & leaves the choices plain A passage for the Soul to come If Life should start again A blank leaf waits beside it Beneath an ink-stained hand [Final verse: restrained vocal] Copper bites the tongue A gilded lie waits there Temperance upon the line A voice across the air No sermon, no command Sharp Wanting makes demands Herbs steep beside the kettle A warm cup steadies shaking hands [Final refrain: full band, then bass alone] The Toad of Recovery Sits where Dark Roads meet The Shadows promise shelter Beyond the blackthorn trees The copper keeps its sting The warning still comes through— [Band cuts out] “Wait. Just wait. Wait. Just wait.” [Outro: opening bass figure alone] The Toad sentinels Dark Roads: “Wait. Just wait.”