When the Shire Fell Silent - Rosie Cotton

Greenhill sleeps with one eye closed

Laughter gone, the fields erode

Letters left that won't return

A fire still waits, but will not burn

She tends the bar with steady hands

Smiles learned, not truly meant

Bootsteps linger far too long

Pale breath a slurred old song

Eyes away her like the dead

Promises soaked in regret

Every "no" just feeds the night

Lanterns dim, no morning light

When the Shire fell silent and the doors were thin

When the rules were written by drunken men

They took what they wanted, they took what they could

And called it order, called it good

Oh, Rosie waits where the shadows bloom

Praying for feet that never come too soon

Then came the smoke, the iron grin

Crooked laws carved into skin

Voices thin as worm-tongue lies

Watching fear replace the skies

Black boots march through hobbit ground

Songs replaced by choking sound

Keys exchanged for threats and wine

Homes no longer yours nor mine

Saruman writes with borrowed hands

Grim as smiles his rot expands

They turn away, they look aside

When monsters pass the doors at night

When the Shire fell silent and mercy fled

When kindness learned how to play dead

They loosed the beast and shut their eyes

Let hunger wear a lawful guise

Oh, Rosie stands where the light once grew

Holding together what evil undo

No screams sung, no tales to tell

Just the tolling of a ruined bell

Dignity bent but never gone

Like roots that grip when hope is wrong

Somewhere far, a promise swore

Somewhere still, a gardener's war

If he returns, will he still see

What's left of her, what's left of me?

When the Shire fell silent, it learned to bleed

Not with steel, but with quiet need

And every sin done by decree

Still howls in memory