salt.

by Nayyirah Waheed

you broke the ocean in half to be here. only to meet nothing that wants you. – immigrant

cruel mothers are still mothers. they make us wars. they make us revolution. they teach us the truth. early. mothers are humans. who sometimes give birth to their pain. instead of children. – hate

does he not remember he is half woman.

would you still want to travel to that country if you could not take a camera with you. – a question of appropriation

knew you. before i met you. i’ve known you my whole life.

she asked ‘you are in love what does love look like’ to which i replied ‘like everything i’ve ever lost come back to me.’

there are feelings. you haven’t felt yet. give them time. they are almost here. – fresh

bleed every month. but do not die. how am i not magic. – the lie

where you are. is not who you are. – circumstances

my english is broken. on purpose. you have to try harder to understand me. breaking this language you so love is my pleasure. in your arrogance you presume that i want your skinny language. that my mouth is building a room for it in the back of my throat. it is not. – i have seven different words for love. you have only one. that makes a lot of sense.

don’t pay attention to the world ending. it has ended for me many times and began again in the morning.

want more ‘men’ with flowers falling from their skin. more water in their eyes. more tremble in their bodies. more women in their hearts than on their hands. more softness in their height. more honesty in their voice. more wonder. more humility in their feet. – less

you will drown if you do not have boundaries. they are not optional. this structure counts on your inability to say no. mean no. they take no from our first breath. go back and return it to your mouth. your heart. your light. – swim | women of color

am simply the poet. the poem is the one that can change your life. – medium

stay is a sensitive word. we wear who stayed and who left in our skin forever. – sojourn

she wants you to stop pissing in her face and calling it water.

i will tell you, my daughter of your worth not your beauty every day. (your beauty is a given. every being is born beautiful). knowing your worth can save your life. raising you on beauty alone you will be starved. you will be raw. you will be weak. an easy stomach. always in need of someone telling you how beautiful you are. – emotional nutrition

if the ocean can calm itself so can you. we are both salt water mixed with air. – meditation

your growing appetite for doors.

‘no’ might make them angry. but it will make you free. – if no one has ever told you, your freedom is more important than their anger

never trust anyone who says they do not see color. this means to them you are invisible. – is

what i never learned from my mother was that just because someone desires you does not mean they value you. desire is the kind of thing that eats you and leaves you starving. – the color of low self esteem

some people when they hear your story. contract. others upon hearing your story. expand. and this is how you know.

i do not expect my child’s respect. just because i have given birth to their life. does not mean they owe me. anything. what i want most is to look into my child’s eyes and see that i have given birth to a heart. have honored. held and fed. someone’s heart. from the moment we first met. and they love me for this. – first

there have been so many times i have seen a man wanting to weep but instead beat his heart until it was unconscious. – masculine

we wanted to. people of color could burn the world down. for what we have experienced. are experiencing. but we don’t. – how stunningly beautiful that our sacred respect for the earth. for life. is deeper than our rage

he said ‘my absence is strong and warm. it will hold you. it will teach you how to miss. how to be without. and how to survive anyway.’ – how my father raised me