Your daughter is ugly.She knows loss intimately,carries whole cities in her belly.As a child, relatives wouldnt hold her.She was splintered wood and sea water.They said she reminded them of the war.On her fifteenth birthday you taught herhow to tie her hair like rope and smoke it over burning frankincense.You made her gargle rosewaterand while she coughed, saidmacaanto girls like you shouldnt smellof lonely or empty.You are her mother.Why did you not warn her,hold her like a rotting boatand tell her that men will not love herif she is covered in continents,if her teeth are small colonies,if her stomach is an islandif her thighs are borders?What man wants to lay down and watch the world burn in his bedroom? Your daughters face is a small riot,her hands are a civil war,a refugee camp behind each ear,a body littered with ugly thingsbut God, doesnt she wearthe world well.
About This Quote
About Warsan Shire
Warsan Shire was a contemporary British writer, poet, editor and teacher. Warsan Shire is a British writer, poet, editor, and teacher who was born to Somali parents in Kenya. In 2013, she was awarded the inaugural Brunel University African Poetry Prize. Read more on Wikipedia →
Themes
- Inspirational — Uplifting words to motivate and inspire positive action
- Poetry — The art of language, rhythm, and emotional expression