The night was soft
A hush laid over everything
The kind of quiet that waits
For someone brave enough
To break it
I stood in the doorway
Of a choice I almost made,
Listening for the small voice
I thought would guide me.
But the heart,
So loud on other days,
Fell strangely still.
It refused to rise,
Refused to whisper,
Refused to lean toward the warmth
I thought it wanted.
And in that silence,
I learned something
I had never dared to know:
Sometimes the heart protects us
Not with thunder
But with absence
A missing beat
A held breath,
A quiet no
That echoes louder
Than any yes
So I stepped back
Left the door untouched
And walked into a different dawn
One where the heart
Finally certain
Began to speak again