Let the Guard Dog Bark

Tonight, the house is quiet enough to hear your own flinch. Someone offers a gentle word, a soft touch, and your whole body braces for the blow that doesn't come.

Your nervous system has learned that kindness is just the quiet before the abandonment. It reads love as a trap.

But look at your hands in this dim light. There is light within a person of light, and it lights up the whole world.

That light is not a trick. It does not hide a stone behind its back.

When the recoil comes, do not shame yourself for it. It is an old guard dog barking at a friend.

Let it bark. Let it tremble.

And stay right where you are. The gentleness you fear is not a prelude to loss.

It is the only thing that has never left you.