Quote

I think in Somali, I cuss in Somali, when I'm afraid I reach for somali and this language is very rich, very filling. It's an unflinching language the crudest most terrible things sound perfectly normal in Somali.

Warsan Shire

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Warsan Shire
Age: 36
Born: 1988
Born: January 1
Poet
Writer
Republic of Kenya
Thinking
Normal
Afraid
Crudest
Terrible
Somali
Rich
Cuss
Sound
Unflinching
Language
Filling
Things
Perfectly
Think
Reach

More quotes by Warsan Shire

Image
You can't make homes out of human beings.
Warsan Shire
Image
How far have you walked for men who've never held your feet in their laps?
Warsan Shire
Image
I belong deeply to myself.
Warsan Shire
Image
There is no intimacy like that between two women who have chosen to be sisters.
Warsan Shire
Image
To my daughter I will say, ‘when the men come, set yourself on fire.’
Warsan Shire
Image
We took such care of tomorrow, but died on the way there.
Warsan Shire
Image
I tore up and ate my own passport in an airport hotel once. I'm bloated with language I can’t afford to forget.
Warsan Shire
Image
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.
Warsan Shire
Image
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
Image
The ego hurts you like this: you become obsessed with the one person who does not love you. blind to the rest who do.
Warsan Shire
Image
I want to love, but my hair smells of war and running and running.
Warsan Shire
Image
Perhaps, the problem is not the intensity of your love, but the quality of the people you are loving.
Warsan Shire
Image
Every mouth you’ve ever kissed was just practice. All the bodies you’ve ever undressed and ploughed in to were preparing you for me. I don’t mind tasting them in the memory of your mouth. Was it a long journey? Did it take you long to find me? You’re here now, welcome home.
Warsan Shire
Image
I have my mother’s mouth and my father’s eyes on my face they are still together.
Warsan Shire
Image
I’m overwhelmed. My biggest downfall is my brightest blessing, I feel too much, all the time. Ya Allah, if it’ll keep my heart soft, break my heart every day.
Warsan Shire
Image
With you, intimacy colors my voice. Even 'hello' sounds like 'come here'.
Warsan Shire
Image
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.
Warsan Shire
Image
Document the moments you feel most in love with yourself - what you're wearing, who you're around, what you're doing. Recreate and repeat.
Warsan Shire
Image
My alone feels so good, I'll only have you if you're sweeter than my solitude.
Warsan Shire
Image
I won't glorify or romanticise heartbreak, for me it was a kind of death and I was forced to keep living.
Warsan Shire