Quiet Damage

It's quiet now
Not peaceful
Just quiet

I stopped asking why it ended
Stopped counting who was wrong
Some answers cost too much to keep
So I let them stay undone
The fire taught me everything
It could without reply
Now what's left is just the shape
Of what I won't retry

Nothing screams
Nothing breaks
It just settles into place

I won't forgive, I won't pretend
I won't bleed to feel okay
Some doors close without a sound
And that's how they stay
What was warm is only warm
In memory, not touch
I don't hate what we were
I just don't trust it much

Not again

I learned how love can bruise you
Without ever raising hands
How promises decay
Right where good intentions stand
I won't call it wasted time
But I won't call it fate
Some things end without a villain
Just a weight you learn to take

There's no rage left to defend
Just a line I won't extend

I won't forgive, I won't pretend
I won't sharpen what remains
Trust doesn't shatter loudly
It thins and fades
What was heat is now a glow
Low enough to doubt
I don't hate what we were
I just know better now

It could happen again
That's the risk
That's the truth
I'll feel it before it breaks
And that's the difference now

I won't forgive, I won't regret
I won't relive what hurt
Some lessons don't ask permission
They just work
I'm still open, just aware
Of the cost of touch
I don't hate what we were
I just don't trust it much

Not closed
Just careful