VOW OF FAILURE (TO BE CARRIED INTO SILENCE)

I vow to fail spectacularly
if I betray what I came here to do.

I vow to lose everything
if I try to impress, seduce, or perform
instead of bleed.

I vow that if I use wisdom to escape pain,
may my voice turn dry in my mouth.

If I wrap my soul in costumes
and call it culture,
may the spirits turn their backs on me.

If I imitate the sacred
instead of listening to it,
may the ceremonies dissolve in my hands.

If I carry the name of healing
but refuse to collapse,
may the fire I light burn my house first.

If I gather followers
before I have faced the mirror naked,
may my words echo back to me,
empty and cold.

I make this vow not as a threat,
but as a promise to my own bones.

Let the silence judge me.

Let the ancestors forget me
if I forget myself.

Let the earth shake beneath me
before I build anything false again.

I vow to die if I must —
but never to return half-alive.