Rotten Roots

It started with a silence, a whispered kind of rot,

The well was sealed, but truth was not.

A lie to calm the people's mind,

While darker deeds grew close behind.

They preyed on those just passing through,

The ones no kin would miss or sue.

A girl on horseback never seen,

A boy found cold near Abilene.

Rotten roots beneath the dust,

Fed by greed, desire, and lust.

No law, no god, no holy flame—

Just hungry hands and hidden shame.

The preacher’s words were soft and kind,

But blood still soaked the ties that bind.

The sheriff smiled, the townsfolk prayed,

While strangers screamed where none obeyed.

The railman’s wife, the peddler’s son,

All vanished when the day was done.

Some saw the truth but turned away,

In Dust Creek, guilt don’t ever stay.

Rotten roots, too deep to burn,

A town too blind, too cruel to learn.

No justice rides, no judgment speaks—

But one day soon, the silence breaks.

And when it does... they’ll hear the bell.