TITLE: When Love Says Goodbye

AUTHOR: Scholastica Moraa

PUBLISHER: Mvua Press (audiobook format by eKitabu)

REVIEWER: Tracy Ochieng

AVAILABILITY: shop.eKitabu.com and ‘On eKitabu’ app

PRICE: Ksh350 (soon-to-be-released Audiobook); Ksh400 (ebook); Ksh 500 (Print).

During a creative brainstorming session, I once asked a colleague why, after thousands of years of evolution, we humans still struggle with relationships. His answer was simple: "People are attracted to the pain that love causes, which is why we won’t stop hearing heartbreak songs." I agreed that our obsession with the lyrical rhythms of pain and heartbreak will likely persist, but my question remained—if two people love each other, why isn’t love easy? Why does genuine love feel so unattainable, and why are heartbreaks served like peanuts daily?

Moraa's poetry collection, When Love Says Goodbye, delves into this very predicament. With beautiful writing, she explores themes of anguish, despair, and love that will have you reminiscing about a love lost or perhaps foreshadowing  a present infatuation. From the first page, it’s clear whom she is writing to and about—carefully navigating the deep seas of unrequited love, elusive passion, or what I would call "temporary highs." These themes are not just recurring, they are at the heart of every poem.

Unrequited love

One of the standout poems in the collection, But I Am Not a Dog, could almost be in conversation with Walt Whitman’s Are You the New Person Drawn Toward Me? Consider Moraa’s lines:

If I had a tail, I’d wag it
I don’t know if that is cute
But I know I am not a dog
And I don’t know what you have turned me into.

In contrast, Whitman writes:

Are you the new person drawn toward me?
To begin with, take warning, I am surely far different from what you suppose;
Do you think it so easy to have me become your lover?

Both poets explore the uncertainty and imbalance of love—one in terms of devotion, the other in terms of self-awareness. Moraa’s themes of unrequited love, hopeless romanticism, loneliness in relationships, and the deep yearning for validation take centrestage. Her honesty is both refreshing and brave, especially in a society where we often hide vulnerability behind the idea that "a man should love you more than you love him" or that “women should avoid showing their true feelings.” Moraa strips away these defences, laying bare the raw emotions many of us are afraid to express with these weighty lines:

I was drawn to you 

And even the fear of getting burned 

Could not keep me away

The complexity of modern love

Moraa’s work also highlights the complexities of modern relationships. The inevitable “what are we” question is one that many of us dread hearing but unfortunately, end up in relationships, or should I call them “situationships and entanglements” where love feels more like a series of questions than a solid foundation. Her words resonate with everyone who has experienced the uncertainty of undefined relationships—unless one is not on the receiving end, of course!

If you were looking for ways to euphemise this daunting question, take a look at how Moraa coins it:

I looked for you
I wanted to tell them I was going with you
But you… you were not there
When my steps faltered, you left me
And now, I have to find my way back.

Overcompensation

Raise your hand if you have never over-given, over-served, over-communicated, or over-whatevered with someone who would never flinch at your efforts. One way or the other, we have all suffered this at some point in our lives. Moraa’s poetry doesn’t shy away from the pain of giving too much in relationships as most of us would, fearing to be baptised a“dusty” or a “pickmeisha” as Mrs Shera Seven likes to do on her social media platforms. Moraa’s lines, full of yearning and admiration, speak to those who’ve bent over backwards to be seen and loved:

I tried to pour love
Into people who did not deserve it
I flavoured it with mint and vanilla
Hoping to make it more palatable
But they cupped their hands over the cup
And my love, it spilled over.

This imagery is both heartbreaking and relatable, capturing the essence of what many have experienced in toxic relationships—giving so much of ourselves to someone who isn’t capable of receiving it. Moraa’s reflections on this theme will resonate with anyone who’s ever felt like they’ve over-given, over-loved,  and lost themselves in the process.

‍Just visiting!

Moraa’s poem Foreign Shore is one of my favourites, as it challenges the idea that love should always last. That people will and should stay with us forever, is far from the truth. Perhaps love isn’t meant to stay forever but to visit us regularly, serving as a reminder to cherish love when it arrives and to let go when it leaves. 

But foreign shore and all,

I hope I smell like your home does

It’s a beautiful reflection on impermanence—acknowledging that while love can be fleeting, its impact can still be profound. While there is an aching need to hold onto love like it is the only purpose we are meant to pursue, it is important not to get lost in our desire to “keep” someone past their shelf life. As Patrick Lumumba once said, a good dancer knows when to leave the stage.

Final Thoughts

When Love Says Goodbye is a courageous exploration of the highs and lows of love, written with raw honesty and emotional depth. Moraa gives voice to those who have loved too much, given too much, and yet found themselves empty-handed. Her poetry reminds us that while love is complex and often painful, it’s also a journey worth taking.

In a world where social media tells us to hide our vulnerability and compete over who shows the least emotion, Moraa’s poetry is a brave reminder that to love is to suffer, to risk, and to sometimes lose—but that doesn’t make it any less beautiful. A Beautiful Mess, perhaps, to draw from the title of Moraa’s previous poetry collection.

Tracy Ochieng is a staff writer with Books in Africa. Email: tracy.ochieng@ekitabu.com

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