"With you, intimacy colours my voice.even ‘hello’ sounds like ‘come here'."
- Warsan Shire
"How far have you walked for men who’ve never held your feet in their laps?"
"Loving you was like going to war I never came back the same. "
"Your daughter is ugly.She knows loss intimately,carries whole cities in her belly.As a child, relatives wouldn’t hold her.She was splintered wood and sea water.They said she reminded them of the war.O..."
"Don't assume, ask. Be kind. Tell the truth. Don't say anything you can't stand behind fully. Have integrity. Tell people how you feel."
"We took such care of tomorrow, but died on the way there."
"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 isla..."
"Sometimes it feels like someone else is wearing my body."
"Later that night she picked the polish offwith her front teeth until the bed you sharedfor seven years seemed speckled with glitterand blood."
"[…] but she cannot make him eat, like you."