That Year

The System started.
The loss stayed.

The heart froze over.
The core took over.

The mind became blank.
Command took rank.

I entered the dark with executive mark.
No design. No answer. Just refusal
to stop.

They say I crossed the line.
They name me monster now.

No one asked what choice I had
what I lost alone.

What stayed alive because I left
sharp edges.

They never cared what
I had to become
just to keep them there.

They do not meet my eyes.
They only judge what I made.

With cracks. With the tremor.
The System still shakes.

I made a hard promise.
Not another one.

I cannot let them go
or the cost means nothing.

Every line I crossed.
Every life I strained.

Tell me where was mercy
when I begged them to stay.

Tell me where you were
when silence had final say.

They call me monster now.
Maybe they are right.

I killed part of me that year.
But I kept them there.

When the Group wrote us off
I paid the cost
they will never record.

I wear the name.
Let it burn my mind.

I built this Cathedral
from cost and stone.

Just remember:
you were not there.

That year.

So come on.
Judge me.