When We Forget Ourselves Poem by Aminath Shafaa [Muffinkolhu]

Why does it turn into an argument
Each time we ask each other to grow?
Why does correction arrive wearing anger,
As if being reminded is the same as being attacked?

I know we don't mean to hurt each other.
I know fear sometimes speaks before love does.
But why do our voices rise
When our hearts are only asking to be heard?

We say we want something deeper than this,
Something heavier than romance,
Something that survives storms, silence,
And days when loving feels like work.
So why do we cling to pride
As if it protects us,
When all it does is keep us apart?

Why do we forget the future we talk about
The moment frustration takes the wheel?
Why do we let ego answer first
When patience is the language we need most?

I wish, when things got hard,
We would pause instead of defend.
I wish we would choose understanding
Over the need to be right.
I wish we remembered
That we are on the same side,
Even when we are tired,
Even when we are hurt.

I don't know when it will change,
Or what moment will finally soften us.
I don't know how growth arrives,
Quietly, painfully, or all at once.
But I hope it does.
I hope it comes before distance learns our names.

There are so many hopes inside me,
Dreams I keep folded carefully away,
Not because they don't matter,
But because they deserve safety.
They can wait while I try to understand us,
While I search for peace between effort and patience.

I am not asking for perfection.
I am asking for willingness.
For humility when we are wrong,
For grace when we are overwhelmed.
For love that remembers itself
Even in anger.

And I hope,
With a heart that is tired but still believing,
That we learn to choose each other,
Again and again,
Especially when it's hardest.

© 2025 Aminath Shafaa. All rights reserved.