The Cost of Keeping Peace

The lines were drawn in quiet ink,
A map of “yes” and “stay,”
I feared the bridge would surely sink
If I turned the other way.
I held my breath to keep the peace,
A ghost within the room,
Fearing that my own release
Would seal a friendship’s doom.

I thought the cost of being me
Was more than they would pay,
That if I spoke, they’d turn and flee
And leave me in the gray.
But then the weight began to gall,
The “jokes” that left a sting,
The way they made me feel so small
While I gave everything.

So I stood up, a sudden flame,
And watched the masks descend,
I finally spoke my truth, my name,
And waited for the end.
They met my strength with cold disdain,
With anger and with slight,
They saw my joy as their own pain
And walked into the night.

And in the silence left behind,
The truth began to bloom:
The friends I was so scared to find
Were never in that room.
For if a boundary breaks a bond,
The bond was but a thread;
Of people who are truly fond,
There’s nothing left to dread.

If standing up meant losing them,
I lost a heavy chain,
A false and hollow stratagem
That only offered pain.
The ones who leave when you grow tall
Were never yours to keep;
It’s better that the shadows fall
So you can finally leap.

More works by Nancy Ann Creed

MAEVE https://books2read.com/u/m25Ygd
MATTHEW https://books2read.com/u/bzNZYj
JUSTIN https://books2read.com/u/mBKzLZ
MAURELLE https://books2read.com/u/bzN19D
ANNBELLE https://books2read.com/u/bWqEkx
Carillon https://books2read.com/u/38anZV


Annabelle: The Fierce Survivor of Shadows

Annabelle 🗝️

Survivor. Shadow-walker. Keeper of secrets the Realm tried to bury.
I don’t fear the dark; I’ve learned to command it. 🗡️

Defying the Chronicles, one shadow at a time.

MAEVE https://books2read.com/u/m25Ygd
MATTHEW https://books2read.com/u/bzNZYj
JUSTIN https://books2read.com/u/mBKzLZ
MAURELLEhttps://books2read.com/u/bzN19D
ANNBELLE https://books2read.com/u/bWqEkx
Carillon https://books2read.com/u/38anZV (COMING MARCH 1, 2026)

The Way Back to Us

gun batimi
Photo by Burak Bahadır Büyükkılınç on Pexels.com

The Way Back to Us

The silent, turning tide of life
Has stretched the maps we knew,
The seasons shifted, ground gave way,
The ties between us drew

Slowly apart, a creeping drift.
Demands attention, energy,
Like water through the sand,
Leaching the solid ground of time.

There was a time, not long ago,
We were each other’s stay,
The anchors holding fast and sure
In storm of early day.
We held the secrets, deep and bright,
The wisdom time had wrought,
Our days marked by the shared, full laugh,
The tapestry we caught—

Before the world turned bright to cold.
I feel the sharp ache of the miss,
The ease we used to share,
Where we could simply be, no need
For any word or care.
That ease is gone; the quiet now,
The profound, long silence cast,
Has tragically become the sound
Our relationship held fast.
When air grows thin with struggle’s breath,
I seek those mirrored faces still.

I’m reaching back through the gray blur
The passing years have made,
Refusing that demanding life
Will keep the things that fade.
The miles that stand between us now
Are lines on charts that lie,
Meaningless compared to the depth
Our history lifts high.
Our memories, no fading echoes—
But brilliant, fixed stars in the night.

With will and concentrated hand,
I clear the tangled brush,
Desperate to find the path again
Beyond the isolating hush.
A clear, resounding call I send

Into the lonely void.
My friends, I want you now to know:
I’m here, steadfast, unalloyed.
I want us back—the kind of bond
That bends but will not break,
No matter what the wind may bring.
It is the time our circle wakes.

More Works by Nancy Ann Creed

https://books2read.com/u/m25Ygd