I had a dream
I was being hunted
Men with quiet eyes
Carrying someone else’s revenge
I didn’t start the war
But it found me anyway
Names I don’t recognize
Blood I didn’t spill
A child in my arms
Another close to my chest
Every hallway a choice
Every door a test
Caught inside another family’s fire
Someone else’s mess
A mother
A man
I might’ve crossed a line
To keep their hearts still beating
I might’ve done what fathers do
When the world stops negotiating
I’m moving them room to room
Washing fear out of clothes
All of us together
Trying not to look like ghosts
Running through backyards
Through fields with no names
Every smile feels dangerous
Every face could be blamed
Big house — feels familiar
Like a borrowed memory
But safety here is temporary
And nothing comes free
An older woman stands outside
Thinner, colder than before
Not asking where the children are
Not asking anymore
I keep changing locations
Like the walls can hear my thoughts
Trying to stay one step ahead
Of consequences I never sought
I’m moving them room to room
Washing fear out of clothes
All of us together
Trying not to look like ghosts
Running through backyards
Through fields with no names
Every smile feels dangerous
Every face could be blamed
On a balcony with a killer
He waits for my sign
I nod him toward another man
Praying it buys us time
I don’t cheer
I don’t watch
I just count the living
And breathe
We’re all together now
Everyone I’m sworn to protect
Three men in the room
One weapon aimed at my chest
I tell them — I’m not a threat
They already know it’s true
But I’m marked inside a system
That doesn’t care what’s true
They say there’s cameras everywhere
No cracks, no place to hide
How do you run with children
When the machine decides?
They say there’s cameras everywhere
And the story’s already set
But love doesn’t follow orders
And it doesn’t forget
I wake up
Still counting heads
Still listening for footsteps
Still choosing love