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4.19 AVERAGE
4.19 AVERAGE
slightly mixed. some of them hit like a punch in the gut and others didnt give me much at all. i read "teaching my mother how to give birth" a while ago, when i was barely introduced to poetry and remember feeling totally captivated, and i can definitely feel that surge in some of the poems here too
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Warsan Shire is a Kenyan-born Somali poet, writer and educator based in London. She was the unanimous winner of the 2013 Inaugural Brunel University African Poetry Prize. Shire has written two chapbooks: Teaching My Mother How To Give Birth & Her Blue Body.
In her first full collection Bless the Dauger - Raised by a Voice in Her Head (2022) Shire introduces us to a girl who, in the absence of a nurturing guide, makes her own stumbling way towards womanhood. The poems captures trauma and resilience, what it means to survive, to search for a home in the world, what it means to inhabit a woman’s body, the tensions of reconciling faith and family and everything that threatens the borders of expectation and obligation. Shire's poetry electrifies and is fiercely tender and heartbreaking.
*
"I don't know where I'm going. Where I came from is disappaering. I am unwelcome. My beauty is not beauty here. My body is burning with the shame of not belonging, my body is longing. I am the sin of memory and the absence of memory. I watch the news and my mouth becomes a sink full of blood. The lines, forms, people at the desks, calling cards, immigration officers, the looks on the street, the cold settling deep into my bones, the English classes at night, the distance I am from home. Alhamdulillah, all of this is better than the scent of a woman completely on fire, a truckload of men who look like my father - pulling out my teeth and nails. All these men between my legs, a gun, a promise, a lie, his name, his flag, his language, his manhood in my mouth."
[Second part of the poem 'Home']
In her first full collection Bless the Dauger - Raised by a Voice in Her Head (2022) Shire introduces us to a girl who, in the absence of a nurturing guide, makes her own stumbling way towards womanhood. The poems captures trauma and resilience, what it means to survive, to search for a home in the world, what it means to inhabit a woman’s body, the tensions of reconciling faith and family and everything that threatens the borders of expectation and obligation. Shire's poetry electrifies and is fiercely tender and heartbreaking.
*
"I don't know where I'm going. Where I came from is disappaering. I am unwelcome. My beauty is not beauty here. My body is burning with the shame of not belonging, my body is longing. I am the sin of memory and the absence of memory. I watch the news and my mouth becomes a sink full of blood. The lines, forms, people at the desks, calling cards, immigration officers, the looks on the street, the cold settling deep into my bones, the English classes at night, the distance I am from home. Alhamdulillah, all of this is better than the scent of a woman completely on fire, a truckload of men who look like my father - pulling out my teeth and nails. All these men between my legs, a gun, a promise, a lie, his name, his flag, his language, his manhood in my mouth."
[Second part of the poem 'Home']
emotional
sad
fast-paced
4.7 Only because I want to give this a five star on my next read.
“BLESS THE MOON
Forgive us, we blamed you
for floods, for the flush of blood,
for men who are also wolves, even
though you could pull the tide in
by her hair, we tell everyone
we walked all over you. We
blame you for the dark, as if you had
a choice, performing just beyond
the glass, distant and adored,
near but alone, cold and unimaginable
following us home. We use you
to see our blue bodies beneath
your damp light, we let you watch,
swollen against the glass as we move
against one another like fish.”
― Warsan Shire, Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head: Poems
“BLESS THE MOON
Forgive us, we blamed you
for floods, for the flush of blood,
for men who are also wolves, even
though you could pull the tide in
by her hair, we tell everyone
we walked all over you. We
blame you for the dark, as if you had
a choice, performing just beyond
the glass, distant and adored,
near but alone, cold and unimaginable
following us home. We use you
to see our blue bodies beneath
your damp light, we let you watch,
swollen against the glass as we move
against one another like fish.”
― Warsan Shire, Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head: Poems
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
“I don’t know where I’m going. Where I came from is disappearing. I am unwelcome. My beauty is not beauty here. My body is burning with the shame of not belonging, my body is longing.” (pg.25)
“I’ll rewrite this whole life and this time there’ll be so much love, you won’t be able to see beyond it.” (pg.52)
Unflinching, blistering, at times achingly tender. “Home” is the standout of this collection for me. Highly, highly recommend.
“I’ll rewrite this whole life and this time there’ll be so much love, you won’t be able to see beyond it.” (pg.52)
Unflinching, blistering, at times achingly tender. “Home” is the standout of this collection for me. Highly, highly recommend.
Beautiful writing. Do yourself a favor, and pick up this collection of gut wrenching poems. My favorites quotes are -
“No one puts their child on a boat unless the water is safer than the land”
“I’ll rewrite this whole life and this time there’ll be so much love, you won’t be able to see beyond it”
“…and what would people say? I ask What if you die while you’re waiting?”
“No one puts their child on a boat unless the water is safer than the land”
“I’ll rewrite this whole life and this time there’ll be so much love, you won’t be able to see beyond it”
“…and what would people say? I ask What if you die while you’re waiting?”