The Secret They Kept Like a Flame

They kept it tucked
in the furthest room of their soul,
where no careless word could bruise it,
where no hungry eyes could strip it bare.

It was not shame,
not pride—
but a reverence so fierce
they dared not name it aloud.

How do you explain
a thing that does not belong to language,
a thing that feels
older than your birth
and brighter than your skin can hold?

So they carried it
like a sacred ember—
warming their nights in silence,
whispering to it when the world was asleep,
letting it burn them gently from within,
while others only saw
their quiet, ordinary face.

For some fires are not meant
for the casual wind of conversation;
they are meant to stay hidden,
until the right heart,
the right moment,
catches the spark
and carries it on.