Title: Before The Blade Falls Poem by ashok jadhav

(The speaker stands alone, poised on the edge of action—weapon in hand or decision heavy in thought. Their voice is steady, but charged with suppressed turmoil.)
Monologue:
This is the moment they will talk about.
Not the years of doubt, not the nights of fear—
just this pause, frozen and convenient,
where the world holds its breath
and pretends the choice is simple.
They will call me hero if I succeed,
monster if I fail—
as though intention were decided by outcome.
But standing here, I feel neither title fit.
I feel only the weight of what must be done.
I have counted the cost.
Lives balanced against lives,
truth against mercy,
peace against justice.
No choice leaves clean hands.
No path spares me from becoming something
I once swore I would never be.
(Pauses, voice lowering.)
I ask myself if this is courage…
or just the last refuge of someone
who can no longer afford hesitation.
If I step forward, the world will change.
If I step back, it will change without me.
They will never know how close I came
to choosing differently.
History has no room for uncertainty.
It demands action—
and calls it destiny afterward.
(With quiet resolve.)
So let them judge me later.
Let them rewrite my reasons,
simplify my fear,
polish my blood into legend or warning.
This choice is mine alone,
and I will carry it long after the story ends.
(The speaker steadies themselves, ready to act.)
I do not know if this makes me righteous or damned.
I only know that I will choose—
and that the silence after
will never be the same.
(Lights fade as the decision is made.)