What Grows Beneath

Descending stone, the air turns thick The smell of rot and something sick The basement breathes a humid breath The stairs go down — below is death But not the kind that ends in peace This death is growth that won't cease The roots are black, the roots are red The roots are threaded through the dead WHAT GROWS BENEATH IS FEEDING ON THE DEAD WHAT GROWS BENEATH HAS TEETH INSIDE ITS THREADS WHAT GROWS BENEATH IS PART OF ME ALREADY WHAT GROWS BENEATH IS BLOOMING, RED AND READY The floor is moving — veins of thorn From every corpse a branch is born The family tree is LITERAL HERE Each ancestor's a root I fear I see my grandmother's face Stretched across the growing space Her mouth is open in a vine Her eyes are blooming — now they're mine WHAT GROWS BENEATH IS FEEDING ON THE DEAD WHAT GROWS BENEATH HAS TEETH INSIDE ITS THREADS WHAT GROWS BENEATH IS PART OF ME ALREADY WHAT GROWS BENEATH IS BLOOMING, RED AND READY The roots — they recognize my blood They reach for me — a thorned flood I cut my palm — I let it drip The roots drink deep — a feeding trip GROW — GROW — GROW — CONSUME BLOOM — BLOOM — BLOOM — ENTOMB I am the soil I am the seed I am the harvest I am the feed WHAT GROWS BENEATH IS ROOTED IN MY VEINS WHAT GROWS BENEATH HAS TAKEN HALF MY NAME WHAT GROWS BENEATH I WATER WITH MY BLOOD WHAT GROWS BENEATH I'VE JOINED THE CRIMSON FLOOD