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Apathy is the same as war, it all kills you, she says. Slow like cancer in the breast or fast like a machete in the neck.

Warsan Shire

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Warsan Shire
Age: 36
Born: 1988
Born: January 1
Poet
Writer
Republic of Kenya
Slow
Machete
Cancer
Machetes
Fast
Apathy
Says
Breast
War
Kills
Like
Neck
Necks
Breasts

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It's not my responsibility to be beautiful. I'm not alive for that purpose. My existence is not about how desirable you find me.
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My name is indigenous to my country, it is not easy to pronounce, it takes effort to say correctly and I am absolutely in love with the sound of it and its meaning. Also, it's not the kind of name you baby, slip into sweet talk mid sentence, late night phone conversation, whisper into the receiver kind of name, so, of that I am glad.
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I belong deeply to myself.
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Make peace with your body, it's not manmade, there are no flaws, there are no mistakes.
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I want to love, but my hair smells of war and running and running.
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And you tried to change, didn't you? Closed your mouth more. Tried to be softer, prettier, less volatile, less awake... You can't make homes out of human beings. Someone should have already told you that. And if he wants to leave, then let him leave. You are terrifying, and strange, and beautiful. Something not everyone knows how to love.
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When I love, I love: wholly, thoroughly, completely, drowning in everything. Every glance can be a conversation, eyes just playing and saying what needs to be said. Silence is loud, and the air becomes heavy. I want you. I want all of you.
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You are terrifying, and strange, and beautiful. Something not everyone knows how to love.
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To my daughter I will say, ‘when the men come, set yourself on fire.’
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Light attracts light. But sometimes your light attracts moths and your warmth attracts parasites. Protect your space and energy
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My favourite people, biggest inspirations and closest friends are all women. Not a coincidence.
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My alone feels so good, I'll only have you if you're sweeter than my solitude.
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At the end of the day, it isn’t where I came from. Maybe home is somewhere I’m going and never have been before.
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I tend to the wound so often, it never heals.
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Later that night, I held an atlas on my lap, ran my fingers across the whole world, and whispered, ‘where does it hurt?’ It answered, everywhere, everywhere, everywhere.
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There is no intimacy like that between two women who have chosen to be sisters.
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You can't make homes out of human beings.
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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.
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I know a few things to be true. I do not know where I am going, where I have come from is disappearing, I am unwelcome and my beauty is not beauty here. My body is burning with the shame of not belonging, my body is longing.
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Perhaps, the problem is not the intensity of your love, but the quality of the people you are loving.
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