Sherry Chilton

“You are her mother.
Why did you not warn her,
hold her like a rotting boat
and tell her that men will not love her
if she is covered in continents,
if her teeth are small colonies,
if her stomach is an island
if her thighs are borders?

What man wants to lie down
and watch the world burn
in his bedroom?

Your daughter ’s face is a small riot,
her hands are a civil war,
a refugee camp behind each ear,
a body littered with ugly things.

But God,
doesn’t she wear
the world well?”
― Warsan Shire, Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth

“You can’t make homes out of human beings, someone should have already told you that.”
― Warsan Shire

“later that night
i held an atlas in my lap
ran my fingers across the whole world
and whispered
where does it hurt?

it answered
everywhere
everywhere
everywhere.”
― Warsan Shire

“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.”
― Warsan Shire