To love is to step softly
into the hidden world of another,
without pretending to know their pain.
It is to hold our words
like water in our hands,
knowing that a single word
can become a caress or a wound.
It is choosing not to judge
what we have never experienced,
and listening to what silence
lacks the courage to say.
Every face carries a night
that other eyes cannot see;
therefore, kindness
is a quiet form of courage.
Leave no scars where you pass,
but leave a little light.
Perhaps this is what love means:
to pass through another’s life
with hands gentle enough
to break nothing.
