Fariha

“The problem was
you kept waiting for another
to call you powerful.

You naively believed men like him
were capable of loving
women who make
crowns for thorns.

The problem was
You loved him so shamelessly,
even his lies became holy.”
― Ijeoma Umebinyuo, Questions for Ada

“She had been looking all along for a friend, and it took her a while to discover that a lover was not a comrade and could never be - for a woman. And that no one would ever be that version of herself which she sought to reach out to and touch with an ungloved hand. There was only her own mood and whim, and if that was all there was, she decided to turn the naked hand toward it, discover it and let others become as intimate with their own selves as she was.”
― Toni Morrison, Sula