V: The Hierophant – The Stranger

© & ℗ 2026 JP Bantigue Records | JPBBEATS | Corin & The Unfinished | jpbbantigue.com The house was standing where no house had stood Its windows dark beneath the hanging wood No road had led you to its silent frame Yet something in you recognized its name You placed your hand against the weathered grain As though the door had called you through the rain Before the hinge could answer to your touch I told you every threshold asks too much No rule is carved where wandering eyes can see No oath survives in ink or memory The law is learned from what the lost become And every warning comes from someone I did not build the doorway in the wall I only learned what follows when you call I keep the key but never choose the guest I guard the room from those who need it best You may believe the house will grant release You may mistake its silence for your peace But every room demands what it is owed And every door remembers who has crossed The halls will change before you turn around The stairs will rise where none were ever found A clock may stop a candle may remain A window may return another name You’ll find a chair still warm beside the fire A page unfinished written in your hand The room will show you everything desired Then ask what you can bear to understand The keeper does not promise right or wrong He only knows which echoes linger long The oldest laws were never born from fear But from the cost of bringing something near I did not build the doorway in the wall I only learned what follows when you call I keep the key but never choose the guest I guard the room from those who need it best You may believe the house will grant release You may mistake its silence for your peace But every room demands what it is owed And every door remembers who has crossed Some come to find the face they could not save Some come to hear a voice beyond the grave Some ask the house to change what came before Then leave a part of themselves behind the door I have watched the rooms grow wide with grief I have watched wonder sharpen into need So call me cruel for standing in your way But I have seen what mercy makes you pay I did not build the doorway in the wall I only stayed when others heard the call I keep no throne I wear no sacred crest I keep the law because I know the rest You may still enter knowing what is owed You may still follow where the hallway goes But when the room returns what you have lost Remember every gift arrives with cost The law was here before the door knew me Before the house learned how to disappear And when it moves beyond another road I will remain wherever it may go