Where My Heart Refused To Whisper

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