you wouldn't know.

that's the thing.

you wouldn't know by

driving past the house.

you wouldn't know from

the day to day calls or texts.

you wouldn't know from the

smiles, practiced and staged

for years.

you wouldn't know.

until something shifts.

the routine ripples,

leaving a blur,

a moment out of focus.

a single phrase that

makes you look back

and see the cracks.

sometimes life breaks quietly.

there’s no fight.

there’s no argument.

there’s no yelling.

there’s no effort.

someone tries to talk

through it.

to understand.

but a bridge needs two sides to stand.

so it goes quiet.

not peaceful quiet.

the kind of quiet that fills a room

like water rising so slowly

no one thinks to swim.

it fills the corners and spaces

where everyone usually hides.

you wouldn't know.

not until the room is full,

the water is still,

and everyone is too tired to speak