The heart reaches out, the conscience recoils. The result is the quiet gaze of the onlooker, the bystander’s posture. Seeing harm, feeling its weight, but remaining still. It is not lack of care that stops them, but fear of the moral work that true empathy would require.
I gave them the chance to say something before the consequences became permanent. I gave them the chance to help prevent this from going further. And they took that opportunity and set it on fire.
