nejma

by Nayyirah Waheed

when words take off their clothes. for me. so i can write. them exactly. as they are. — skin

poetry alters my dna. every poem is a different life. every poem brings me closer to myself. and breaks open a new future inside of me.

the gold feeling. that lives off the coast of your body. that is solid. and seething with light. — the auric coast

i have a life to garden. a multiverse to wake from sleep. — giants

(trust that all you did not receive. all you need. will come to you. in time. the universe is infinite.’) — a love poem (six ways)