Quiet, Covert Violence

There is a quiet violence in covert resistance.

Here I do not mean the kind of opposition

Born from the desire to be free.

Absolutely not. Not at all.

Here I am speaking of the

Insidiousness of the withheld hand.

The help that is named but never given.

The agreement that never becomes action.

Covert violence offers the face of cooperation

While the heart stays closed.

It claims to live with integrity, but

A chasm remains between word and deed.

Yet wisdom asks something of us on the receiving end, too.

We are called to name what is real

Without hardening into bitterness,

To set honest boundaries without contempt.

We cannot force another's heart open.

We can only tend our own.

Staying clear and staying kind

Trusting that our peace does not depend on their change.

Loneliness

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