The Place the Heart Feels Seen

By Liz Picardal • November 23, 2025

The sun was lowering across the river,

softening the world into gold,

as though the evening longed to deliver

truth before the day grew old.

He sat beside her on the riverbank,

her quiet presence calm and bright,

a lantern at dusk so gentle, frank,

inviting honesty into the night.

He held a stone within his palm,

turning it over to soothe his chest,

as though its weight might bring him calm,

a moment of borrowed, fragile rest.

When his voice finally rose,

it carried a trembling, unsteady tone.

“I’m lost,” he whispered, “and heaven knows

my heart is torn between two unknowns.”

“Two people care for me, both kind,

both shining in their different ways.

I don’t know where my truth aligns,

or where my deepest longing stays.”

The river flowed in timeless grace,

a patient teacher, still and wise.

Its quiet murmurs filled the space

with whispers carrying old replies.

She did not rush what he confessed.

She let the silence hold his pain,

letting each thought rise and rest,

soft water gathering falling rain.

After a pause, she spoke so light,

“How do you feel when near each one?”

Her voice a lantern in the night,

guiding him gently toward the sun.

He stared at the stone with lowered head,

as though the river might intervene.

“I feel different with each,” he softly said,

“one fierce like fire, one soft and serene.

“One is fire, bright and alive,

full of movement, spark and flame.

The other is breath where I can thrive,

a place I can be without any shame.”

She listened with a knowing ear,

one seasoned by life’s quiet art,

that clarity grows when left sincere,

not tugged too soon from a tangled heart.

“I’m afraid of choosing wrong,”

he murmured through the fading light.

The river shimmered, wise and strong,

as dusk prepared to kiss the night.

“You are not choosing between two faces,”

she said, her voice a steady shelf.

“You are choosing between the inner places

that shape two versions of yourself.”

He looked up quickly, breath held tight.

She spoke again in gentle ease.

“When choosing where your heart feels right,

ask who you become with each of these.

“Who steadies your spirit without dimming your fire?

Who holds your light yet lets you rise?

Who reflects your truth, your truest desire,

not the version that pleases someone’s eyes?”

He listened as though the world stood still,

as though he had waited his whole life long

for someone to speak with such quiet skill,

words both tender and strong.

“Love is not choosing what others approve,

or who looks perfect on the page,”

she said, letting the soft wind move

across the river like a sage.

“Love is the place where truth is known,

where your soul feels seen and free,

where steady roots and light are grown,

where your heart is safe to be.”

He closed his eyes and released the stone.

It slipped with a gentle, echoing sound,

a moment felt wholly his own,

as though clarity finally had been found.

“So the answer,” he breathed anew,

“is inside me where it’s always stayed.”

She watched with eyes both deep and true,

soft understanding gently laid.

“It always has been,” she replied.

“Your heart knew long before today.

It only needed room inside

to speak the truth you tucked away.”

He stood up straighter than before,

no longer bowed by doubt’s refrain.

Behind him the river currents bore

the last of his lingering quiet pain.

He lingered there, letting the water sweep

the day’s uncertainty far downstream.

And in that stillness, calm and deep,

his heart awakened from its dream.

Then softly, shyly, something shifted.

Not certainty, but recognition.

A quiet clarity newly lifted,

aligning him with his true position.

He finally saw the truth unmasked,

which connection felt like home to him,

which presence steadied him when asked,

which path felt honest, full, not dim.

He did not choose from outside praise,

nor from comparison’s fleeting touch.

He chose the place his heart could stay,

the one that loved him just as much.

He chose the soul who made him whole,

who held his breath in a gentle way.

He chose the truth that filled his soul,

the place his heart felt safe to stay.