I have an odd relationship

with difficult things.

They scare me.

Then they interest me.

There is a part of me

that wants to know

what happens

when the road becomes hard.

My father taught me

not to confuse

the popular direction

with the right one.

If everyone is moving

one way,

I want to know

why.

If everyone chooses

the comfortable option,

I want to know

what discomfort

might be trying to teach.

I have walked towards

things that frightened me

simply because

I wanted to meet

the person I would become

on the other side.

Difficulty reveals things.

It shows you

how much patience

you actually have.

How much courage.

How creative

your survival can become.

How many times

you can hear,

No,

and still search

for another door.

I do not worship struggle.

Pain is not automatically

noble because it hurts.

But I respect

what resistance can reveal.

There are strengths

that comfort never introduces.

There are parts of yourself

you meet only

when the plan breaks.

I have met some of mine.

And now,

when the road becomes hard,

I do not immediately

assume I have chosen wrong.

I ask,

What is this asking

me to become?

I have stopped believing

that every hard road

is a punishment.

Some roads

are simply classrooms.

Author’s bio

Shakirat Ayodeji Bioku is a multidisciplinary artist, poet, and performer whose creative journey is rooted in storytelling, oral tradition, theatre, traditional cultural dance, and spoken word. She began her performance journey creating and delivering custom celebratory eulogies and performing in local theatre. Her writing draws from lived experiences, exploring themes of family, identity, courage, love, resilience, growth, and becoming. She has performed her poetry on various stages across Nigeria, bringing together the intimacy of poetry with the energy and emotion of live performance.