It took me a while…
                   to place it.

That warmth,
     that steadiness,
     that way her voice

     carries both softness and certainty in the same breath.

Like something
     I’ve always known,

     but never expected to hear again—
                  not quite like this.

It isn’t just the sound—
    it’s the way it lands,
                 it lingers,

    the way it quiets the restless parts of me without even trying.

I don’t say it.

I won’t.

It’s not something that needs saying.

But still,
    when she speaks,
    somewhere deep inside—

I listen…
         like I’ve been listening my whole life.