‘Should I Stay? Should I Go?’ is a collaborative poem by Helena Okiring, originally performed in Kampala, June 2017 in response to the Creative Alternatives workshop.
Should I Stay? Should I go?
Let’s begin:
should I stay should I go
should I choose you do I choose me
do I fight do I flee
do I fall do I stay
do I fly do I go
can I take it can I fight
can I do this can I risk it
should I stay should I go
should I stay
I don’t know
your role your role was there.
I know all of us in our lives, at different points and times, go through moments of indecision. We live in a time when we are expected to have all the answers and we don’t really embrace not knowing what to do. And over time I’ve come to learn that it’s OK not to have the answers. Confusion—is a healthy part of arriving at a solution. Just because you feel confused doesn’t mean your mind is not working. Somehow, whatever it is—whether it’s someone you need to leave, whether it’s a situation you need to detract yourself from, whether it’s a job you need to walk out of, whether it’s a relationship that’s just not working—let’s embrace that moment of indecision. You’ll somehow know what to do eventually. Yes: it’s ok to be confused, yes, yeah. That’s it. Good.
- By Helena Okiring, Kampala, 2017