Blackwood - Covenant of the Black Star, pt II

Roanoke… Only cursed houses remained, Doorways gaped, like they mouthed a name. No blood spilled, no bodies displayed, Just beds left warm, where the souls decayed. We thought the woods, were timber and shade, Pine-needle silence, like a burial blade. Then every branch, started bending the same, That's when the bark whispered back a name. Croatoan! Cold hearth smoking, like a throat gone dry, Prayer book open, with the ink bled white. Cradles still rocking, with no damn child, Floorboards breathing, like the house went wild. Corn rows crooked, like a broken spine, Crows sit quiet, on the chapel sign. Same word scratched, in the window grime, Croatoan crawling, through the back of my mind. Lanterns swing, but the wind don’t move, Boot prints stop, where the black roots grew. Hunger in the walls, starts chewing through, Like the colony vanished, into something true. I call their names, but the trees call back, Same dead voices, in a pine-wood mask. Faith turns thin, then the fear turns black, These woods taught me, With a blood-soaked fucking axe... I hear it under every prayer, Like something holy rotting there. The dark keeps breathing through my name, And every mouth begins to say. Croatoan… crawling through the grain, Croatoan… carving through my brain. We prayed for God, but the woods spoke plain, Now Roanoke burns without a flame. Croatoan… written in the bark, Croatoan… whispering in the dark. We called it a name, but it called us back, Blackwood opened, and the world went black. Mothers hum hymns, with their eyes rolled back, Children draw stars, in the fireplace ash. Fathers laugh hard, at the chapel cracks, Like the Lord looked down, and the mirror snapped. Sleepwalkers march, where the tree line bends, Bare feet bleeding, through the briar stems. No one screams, when the black roots creep, They just smile wide, like they learned to sleep. Names turn hollow, when the moon hangs low, Loved ones speak, from the mouths of crows. Same damn word, in the well below, Croatoan rising, where the cold winds go. I grab one man, but his skin feels thin, Like paper stretched over, something within. He says, “Don’t fear what the woods let in,” Then walks through the dark, with a borrowed grin... That word keeps knocking, behind my eyes, Every prayer; comes back in disguise. I hear my name, from the tree line now, And every voice wears, a dead man’s mouth... Preacher stood still, where the candlelight bent, Green eyes burning, like the devil paid rent. Bible in hand, but the words came spent, Like God got locked, where the Black Star went. He smiled too wide, with a borrowed face, Spoke old Gaelic, through a preacher’s grace. Tongue split time, like a rusted gate, Ireland bled through, the Roanoke grain. He said, “Croatoan ain’t carved to warn,” “It’s a door in the wood reborn.” I saw his shadow wear another man, Then it wrote that name, through my shaking hand... Empty streets, under a dead moon’s eye, Smoke curls thin, where the hearths went dry. No bells ring, no children cry, Just my own breath, asking me why. I drag the blade, through the waiting bark, Each letter bleeds, like a living mark. C-R-O in the dark, Then the woods lean close, for the final spark. A-T-O... like a prayer gone wrong, A-N hums... like a funeral song. My hand goes numb, but the cut stays strong, Like the tree knew, the name all along. I step back once. but the roots step too, Black sap shines, where the letters grew. I hear them all, from beyond the blue, And every lost voice whispers... “Come through.” Croatoan… cut into the tree, Croatoan… now it’s cutting me. I hear that word in the dirt when I sleep, Blackwood breathes where the dead roots creep. Croatoan… no one leaves the line, Croatoan… eating through my mind. We marked the bark, but we missed the sign, The woods want you… Run and fucking hide! I carved the word, where the black roots grow, Deep in the bark, so the lost would know. Every cut made the letters glow, And every tree whispered… Croatoan. I walked past the line... Where the lanterns died... No voice left but the one inside... It says, "Cut out your eye's…" "So, the darkness can devour you..." "Croatoan"… "Croatoan"… "Croatoan"…