headlong by Hauwa Shafii Nuhu

headlong

finally,

i pause the prolonged humming in my veins

-all things must align with this silence

i gather grapevines bloodying their lengths;

the ones whose voices are rooted in

the daunting, familiar, yet unfamiliar;

ways my heart has come to keep you like a word given

i gather them all and keep in a pile,

then walk headlong into the uncertain slope of you

HAUWA SHAFII NUHU.