The End Dialogue Poem by HAZEEM OLADIPUPO OLUWATOBI KAZEEM

Why did you stop fighting?
I stopped the moment I knew I was dead.

Dead? But you're still here.
Not buried,
just drowned in the noise of breathing bodies.

Did you ask for help?
I waved in rooms full of hands.
Help learned to look away;
even mercy shut its eyes.

What did the days do to you?
They became a cracked mirror.
Each morning showed a stranger
with my exhaustion stitched into his face.

And hope?
I carried it like a leaking vessel,
patched it with prayers,
watched it empty anyway.

Why didn't you keep walking?
The road walked without me.
Silence sat where voices should be.
I learned how heavy that can feel.

What do you want now?
I fold my battles into dust,
lay my name down like an old coat,
ask for nothing more
only to sleep where clocks do not follow,
to rest until eternity loosens its grip.