DIDACTIC: "IT IS OKAY NOT TO BE FINE" BY ALAYE ROMZIAT (ZEEYAH)

“Hi, how are you doing?”

“I’m fine.”

The most overly used response from the land I came from,

or should I say,

from the humans I have come across.

As much as I find the world and its creatures fascinating,

I never quite get to unravel

the weight it carries.

Believe it.

Toss it.

Maybe just admit it

for the surface area.

But you and I know you are not.

Maybe, if I asked on a deeper level,

you would be a little more open,

open enough for me to see your cracks.

Open enough to tell me

that you are not fine.

That you are carrying a heavy cross

that seems to want to stumble over you.

That you don't want to be an adult.

That you are stuck at sixteen

somewhere inside your head,

wondering when life became

something you had to survive

instead of something you were allowed to live.

That you want things to go smoothly.

That you are tired..

tired of hearing,

“This phase will pass.”

Tired of being reminded

that it is okay not to be okay.

Because perhaps

that is just another flaw.

Another beautiful sentence

we have learned to say

when we don't know what to do

with someone's pain.

It is okay not to be okay.

But what if I don't want it to be okay?

What if I want you to sit with me

in the ugly parts?

What if I don't need reassurance

that the storm will pass?

What if, for once,

I just need someone to admit

I see you.

And no,

you don't have to be fine.

© ALAYE ROMZIAT (ZEEYAH) 

Tales of a Nightbirde.

-Nigeria.

“It Is Okay Not to Be Fine” by Zeeyah is a reflective poem about the hidden struggles people often conceal behind the simple response, “I’m fine.” The speaker questions the sincerity of this common expression and suggests that beneath outward appearances, many people are carrying emotional burdens, exhaustion, fear, and unresolved pain. Through a series of intimate questions, the poem invites the reader to look beyond superficial conversations and acknowledge the vulnerability of those who may be silently struggling.

The poem particularly explores the difficulty of growing into adulthood and the desire to escape the pressures and responsibilities that accompany it. The speaker portrays a person who feels emotionally trapped in the past, overwhelmed by the demand to survive rather than simply enjoy life. The repeated references to being tired and hearing that “this phase will pass” reveal frustration with conventional words of reassurance, which may sometimes minimize rather than address another person’s suffering.

Rather than offering another promise that everything will eventually become fine, the speaker asks for something more genuine: presence, understanding, and recognition. The closing declaration, “I see you”, becomes the emotional centre of the poem, emphasizing that people in pain may not always need solutions or reassurance. Sometimes, they simply need someone willing to acknowledge their struggle and remain with them through the difficult moments.

Ultimately, the poem challenges the expectation that people must always appear strong or emotionally well. It presents vulnerability as something that deserves compassion and reminds readers that genuine empathy begins with seeing and accepting people as they truly are, even when they are not fine.