When Lonely Calls

Sit with it—

the stillness of being surrounded by you.

Do not run from the unease

lingering behind closed doors of self-reflection.

Let it in.

Be one with yourself when it comes.

Do not be afraid to give in.

Dance with it—

the silence

so loud you can almost hear it sing.

It hums the truth:

being by yourself feels like the hardest thing—

but I promise, babygirl,

the hardest thing is being with someone

who isn’t fully yours.

So be fully yours now.

Feel it—

the weight of the void you long to fill—

with someone, something, anything.

Feel it until there is nothing left to feel.

And when you finally fill that space with yourself,

you will know—

you are the only thing that can ever make you whole.

So when lonely calls next time,

answer.

the beauty of loneliness

is that you are never truly alone,

you have you.

I Bring Myself

I bring myself—
a body of work,
understudied, overlooked.

My name,
unfamiliar on tongues
twisting to pronounce it.

My story,
unheard,
valued only in moments of convenience,
prioritized when it serves another’s need.

I bring myself—
a life lived in a world
only valued for what my land can give.

Beulah Nimene holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics with a minor in Public Administration from Cuttington University in Liberia. She is currently a graduate student at the Berkeley School of Education. Passionate about women’s political participation and inclusive governance, Beulah is also a writer, poet, and spoken word artist. Her work explores themes of the uniqueness of personhood and the collective beauty found in individual experiences.