CONFESSIONAL: "WHAT DO I DO?" BY ALAYE ROMZIAT

If life grows too heavy,

if the spark refuses to return,

if prayers become unanswered echoes,

if gratitude feels like a betrayal,

if my skin no longer feels like home,

if the stranger in the mirror answers to my name...

What do I do?

Do I fall to my knees and pray?

Offer a sacrificial lamb?

Feed the hungry?

Keep my soul untainted?

Or simply wait—

for the version of me

that still wants to live

to find its way back.

© Alaye Romziat 

- Nigeria 

The poem portrays a speaker overwhelmed by emotional pain, spiritual doubt, and a deep sense of losing their identity. Through a series of haunting questions, the speaker wonders how to cope when life becomes unbearable, hope fades, prayers seem unanswered, and even self-recognition feels lost. They consider faith, kindness, purity, and patience as possible paths to healing, ultimately expressing a quiet hope that the part of themselves that still longs to live will one day return. The poem explores themes of despair, identity, resilience, faith, and the enduring search for hope in the midst of darkness.