You felt it shift beneath the floor
A hairline crack across the room
You turned the volume down instead
Let daylight blur the bruise
You watched the air grow slightly thin
Watched language start to bend
You chose the quiet over rupture
Let the fracture mend itself
Not now.
Not here.
You kept the peace.
You kept it clean.
You kept your hands
Out of the scene.
The darker voices found their shape
The sharper words began to stay
You measured consequence in sleep
And turned your face half away
You called it balance.
Called it time.
Let something root between the lines.
Not yours.
Not yet.
You kept the peace.
And fed the fire.
You kept the peace.
And built it higher.
Nothing loud.
Nothing sudden.
Just space.
And something growing in it.
You kept the peace.
And watched it spread.
You kept the peace.
And lost the ground.
You were not afraid of evil.
You were afraid of conflict.