MUSICAL Poem: When Love Feels Like Music, by Oluwayimika Oni

We keep fighting about nothing,
then sitting in silence that feels louder than words.
It’s like we’re caught in a song that won’t move forward,
just the same verse, the same note,
again and again.

You said, “You never listen.”
I wanted to say, “I do, I just don’t always know how.”
But the words never came out right.

I think about how it used to be
when your laugh was my favourite chorus,
when your hand in mine was enough to quiet everything else.
Back then, we were in tune.
Now we sound like two instruments
playing in different rooms.

But I don’t want to give up on this.
I don’t want love to be a solo.
I want harmony, even if it’s imperfect.

Maybe if we slow down,
listen softer,
forgive quicker
we can find the music again.

Not a perfect song.
Just ours.