EXISTENCIAL: "IS THAT WHERE IT ALL ENDS?" BY ALAYE ROMZIAT

The moulding and shaping of this fragile body.

The crawling of my knees against rough ground, the crying until Mother finally turned her attention towards me. The struggle of adjusting to new places, the faces that became friends, and the little group that somehow nurtured my mischief, intellect, and goofiness.

The voices that once told me, “You were born for greatness.” My first graduation. My first external examination. Then another graduation, and suddenly, young adulthood was waiting at the door.

Reality feels like a film with no final scene.

And sometimes I wonder: is death where it all ends?

I still have so much left to say, yet tomorrow is never promised. I am here, fighting battles no one can see—wondering if I am growing into the adult I was meant to become, or merely wandering towards a version of myself already broken.

I do not know whether greatness or struggle waits ahead. I do not know when life might forcibly bring me to a stop.

But after all the becoming, all the surviving, all the memories still unfolding

is death truly where it all ends?

© ALAYE ROMZIAT 

TALES OF A NIGHTBIRDE

- Nigeria.

The poem “IS THAT WHERE IT ALL ENDS?” by Zeeyah is a deeply introspective reflection on life, growth, mortality, and the uncertainty of the future. The speaker takes the reader through the different stages of existence, beginning with childhood, the struggles of growing up, friendships, education, and the transition into young adulthood. These memories reveal how much effort, pain, learning, and transformation are involved in becoming the person one is meant to be.

As the speaker reflects on the journey so far, a sense of uncertainty emerges. Despite having survived different challenges and reached important milestones, the future remains unpredictable. The speaker questions whether they are truly becoming the person they were destined to become or simply moving toward an uncertain and possibly broken version of themselves. The repeated question of whether death marks the end of everything introduces the poem's central existential concern.

Ultimately, the poem presents life as an unfinished journey filled with memories, struggles, aspirations, and unanswered questions. It captures the vulnerability of young adulthood and the human desire to understand whether all our experiences, achievements, and hopes have a meaning beyond death.