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# #12. For Francis.
- URL: https://www.layersofzoe.net/12-for-francis/
- Published: 2025-04-22T02:19:00.000Z
- Updated: 2025-12-08T21:57:50.000Z
- Author: Layers of Zoe
- Tags: Signals, history, the men

The shepherd went barefoot  
more often than they expected.

He did not raise his voice.

He folded his hands  
in ways that made power nervous.

The shoes of the fisherman  
were left at the door.

He wore silence like cloth –  
not always clean,  
but never stiff.

When he walked into rooms,  
some bowed,  
some turned away,  
and a few – very few –  
sat up straighter.

He did not fix it.  
He did not burn it down.

But there is one less breath now  
in the halls of the broken temple.  
And the dust has noticed.