If I go back
I wouldn’t know where to stand
Faces will blur into one another,
Memories will mean less than they did,
and the flaws I fled from
would still be waiting at the door

If I go back
I could read footsteps instead of promises
to see who kept walking with me
when the road grew narrow
and the future turned bleak

If I go back
I could focus on time,
hold it like a lantern
to see who faded
and who shone brighter through the years

If I go back
I could weigh the luggage
to know which I can carry
and still have the strength to live
and who’d shoulder mine without complaint

But what if going back
Isn’t about choosing at all?
What if it’s about finding the thread
I dropped without noticing
The one that leads to a version of me
I wasn’t ready to claim

Mariam Shittu