Main Hall, Darling

Mm. Honestly, I didn’t even plan on stopping. The corridor parts when I arrive, As it always does, as it should, as it must, Little bodies rearrange themselves Into something more… appropriate. And then I see her. Skateboard girl. Hat. The usual aesthetic confusion. Standing exactly where she shouldn’t be standing. It’s almost impressive, really, How unaware some people can be… Main hall, I don’t raise my voice, There’s no need to make a noise, Some people simply understand— Where they belong in the grander plan. Main hall, she looks at me, Like she thinks it’s equal parity, How… quaint, how unrefined— Still pretending she has time. She says something—what was it? A joke? A deflection? A habit? Hard to tell, they blur together, People like her always do. I step closer, of course I do, Because distance is a courtesy earned, And she hasn’t quite managed that yet, Despite her enthusiasm. There’s a pause in the air— Like the hallway is waiting for instruction… Main hall, I don’t raise my voice, There’s no need to make a noise, Some people simply understand— Where they belong in the grander plan. Main hall, she holds her ground, How theatrical, how unsound, Bravery is not the same— As knowing how to play the game. She doesn’t move. That is… inconvenient. Most people do. They always do. There’s a certain expectation of physics That tends to apply itself correctly. Ah. The snow leopard arrives with intent, As if volume equates to argument, How very… straightforward. I look at her. She looks at me. There is nothing dramatic about it, really. Just biology pretending to be authority. And yet the room recalibrates… How predictable. Main hall, I do not retreat, I simply choose a different beat, A moment passes, understood— I am still exactly as I should. Main hall, let them believe, What they need in order to breathe, Power is not what you show— It’s what remains when you go. How exhausting. All of it. Still. She stood there quite longer than expected.