THE SILENT GLADIATOR
by Alexandria VonEdenbourgh

I saw him once—
a shadow carved in flame,
walking toward the sea
as if he belonged to the sun.

No armor, no words,
just the weight of a thousand battles
held in the shape of his silence.

He did not see me.
He never could.

But I saw enough for both of us—
the way dawn bowed to him,
the way the tide remembered his name
even when I dared not speak it.

The sun did not ask
who I was to him.
It simply rose
and burned us both.