The Unwanted Light

*Dark Hierophant Chronicles IV* **[Intro]** *[Low temple gong. A lantern is lit. Soft bamboo flute answers. Whispered voices circle the room.]* Don't shine the light there... Not there... Please... --- **[Verse I]** I found a room of covered lanterns Each one wrapped in careful hands No one called the darkness evil Only... Necessary. The Hierophant beside me whispered, "Do not judge the shade. Ask... Who first needed it?" --- **[Pre-Chorus]** One voice answered, "That is my identity." Another, "That is where my family lives." Another, "That is the place I survived." The lantern waited. --- **[Chorus]** Don't shine the light there... That's my name. Don't shine the light there... Nothing will be the same. Don't shine the light there... That's where I belong. Don't shine the light there... What if I've been wrong? The lantern never argued. It simply stayed. Warm... And patient... Beside the shade. --- **[Verse II]** One shade guarded fear. One guarded grief. One guarded love that never found relief. One guarded stories older than memory. One guarded children from yesterday's storm. The Hierophant nodded. "Many shades begin in kindness." Then he asked... "Do they still?" --- **[Bridge]** When a shade hides bruises... Leave it time. When a shade hides healing... Walk beside it. But when a shade asks another soul To disappear... Lift one corner. Together. Let enough light through To see Without burning. --- **[Instrumental Passage]** *[Breathy bansuri. Quiet choir. Lantern glass gently rings.]* --- **[Final Chorus]** Don't shine the light there... That's my certainty. Don't shine the light there... That's my community. Don't shine the light there... That's the world I know. The Hierophant raised the lantern. Not to conquer. Not to shame. Only to ask... "What else is in the room?" If the light uncovers suffering... Do not curse the one who feared. Do not leave the suffering hidden. Carry the lantern Long enough... For both. --- **[Outro]** The shade did not make them wicked. The lantern did not make them enemies. One protected yesterday. One searched for tomorrow. The question was never, "Who deserves the light?" The question was always, "Can we bear to see... Together?"