Nejma Quotes

i am mine. before i am ever anyone else's.

the truth is you were born for you. you were wanted by you. you came for you. you are here for you. your existence is yours. yes.

grieve. so that you can be free to feel something else.

do not choose the lesser life. do you hear me. do you hear me. choose the life that is. yours. the life that is seducing your lungs. that is dripping down your chin.

be easy. take your time. you are coming home. to yourself. — the becoming

and i heard her say, 'you are afraid of love. but love is not afraid of you.

put some honey and sea water by your bed. acknowledge. that your being needs sweetness and cleansing. that it is sore. that you are. soft. - orishas

yes. yes i do. have the right to be this lush and neverending.

all the women. in me. are tired.

i will always be a translation.

Some words. The way they look at you...

whether with a lover or none. i reek of love. i stink of love.

the cure for apathy is memory.

the poem. the one that is running through your life. pay attention. to that poem.

but this was never a relationship. i have no idea who you are.

sometimes i want to say it. and there is nothing in english. that will say it.

a poem can eat a person whole. for years.

as you are.’ says the universe. ‘after…’ you answer. ‘as you are.’ says the universe. ‘before…’ you answer. ‘as you are.’ says the universe. ‘when…’ you answer. ‘as you are.’ says the universe. ‘how…’ you answer. ‘as you are.’ says the universe. ‘why…’ you answer. ‘because you are happening now. right now. right at this moment and your happening is beautiful. the thing that both keeps me alive and brings me to my knees. you don’t even know how breathtaking you are. as you are.’ says the universe through tears. — as you are | you are the prayer

the first time the caregiver saw it on the child. they said ‘no. don’t you dare. you will not grow up thinking you are unwanted. because your parents. chose themselves. over you. this will not be your story because it is not the truth. the truth. is your creation is not about them. you came through them, my love, they were your vessel. the truth. is you were born for you. you were wanted by you. you came for you. you are here for you. your existence is yours. yes. you will want them. (and on odd and warm nights they will think of you and hold themselves tighter.) but. what you do not get. from them. does not make you less. does not make you unwanted. (trust that all you did not receive. all you need. will come to you. in time. the universe is infinite.’) — a love poem

a friend. is someone who supports your breath.

we need to share our wars.

poetry alters my dna. every poem is a different life. every poem brings me closer to myself. and breaks open a new future inside of me.

i have a life to garden. a multiverse to wake from sleep. — giants

i learned shukran. (thank you) first. shukran. (thank you) for this meal. shukran. (thank you) for making this for me. shukran. for everything. and in the midst of all of this. gratitude. la. (no) was lost. before. i ever found it. — the blunt force of gratitude

i am a soft revolution. the one whose hair is bleeding.

there is a god in writing. a soft. roaring. unconditional. home of a god. who prays to me.

you are a flood in my hands.

i am mine. before i am ever anyone else’s. — in

every poem. here. is an unwrite. of all that has been written in me without. permission.

there is peaceful. there is wild. i am both at the same time.

i am trying to remember you and let you go at the same time. — the mourn

i will. and this will end. — closure | dankyes

just for tonight… just for tonight. be the tenderest thing. in the universe.

i am trying to remember you and let you go at the same time. —the mourn

my mother gave me islam. my father gave me the god of absence. and here i am. a religion made of myself.

you and the poems have a lot to talk about.

i want to keep our body above water. you want to make us a fish. — fish

(that neverending nurturing you need. the sea has it.)

give me a moment… i am adjusting the roses in my tongue.

islam. is still in my life. we are old soulmates. who could not work out the knots against skin. who could not believe in each other. while believing in ourselves. who could not make each other happy. without. making each other a sadness. who were born to each other. and never fell in love. but we still sip tea. share our hands. touch hearts. every now and then.

and i heard her say, ‘you are afraid of love. but love is not afraid of you.

I go. with all the nothings,all the myths and the flawings, and return full. a new metal. a waterlight

whenever i think about my mother and father and the amount of cruelty i have ate at their hands i remember that i am the best of them. and i am at peace.

drop a name in the water. drop a name in the water. and a name in the water. drop another name in the water. and another. and another. and another. and another. and another. and another. and another. and another. and another. and another. until there are no more bodies in your body. —

i am drunk from all the honey. i have been drinking. for days straight. every night i eat water until i fall asleep. i am trying to remember you, madiba. and let you go at the same time. i am throwing my weeping at the stars. — anger (grief poems)

don’t give. it. to your children. the thing. that was given to you.

i am writing my way back to you.

grieve. so that you can be free to feel something else

whether with a lover or none. i reek of love. i stink of love.

the first time i met my mother. i knew she was not mine

and so. we are here. brown babies. worshipping. feeding. the glutton that is white literature. even after it dies. — the hot wash (years later. the conclusion: shakespeare is relative. white literature is relative. that we are force fed the meat of an animal that our bodies will not recognize. as inherent nutrition. is not relative. is inert.)

our tragedy begins humid. in a humid classroom. with a humid text book. breaking into us. stealing us from ourselves. one poem. at a time. it begins with shakespeare. the hot wash. the cool acid. of dead white men and women. people. each one a storm. crashing. into our young houses. making us islands. easy isolations. until we are so beleaguered and swollen with a definition of poetry that is white skin and not us. that we tuck our scalding. our soreness. behind ourselves and learn poetry. as trauma. as violence. as erasure. another place we do not exist. another form of exile where we should praise. honor. our own starvation. the little bits of langston. phyllis wheatley. and angelou during black history month. are the crumbs. are the minor boats. that give us slight rest. to be waterdrugged into rejecting the nuances of my own bursting extraordinary self. and to have this be called education. to take my name out of my name. out of where my native poetry lives. in me. and replace it with keats. browning. dickson. wolf. joyce. wilde. wolfe. plath. bronte. hemingway. hughes. byron. frost. cummings. kipling. poe. austen. whitman. blake. longfellow. wordsworth. duffy. twain. emerson. yeats. tennyson. auden. thoreau. chaucer. thomas. raliegh. marlowe. burns. shelley. carroll. elliot… (what is the necessity of a black child being this high off of whiteness.) and so. we are here. brown babies. worshipping. feeding. the glutton that is white literature. even after it dies. (years later. the conclusion: shakespeare is relative. white literature is relative. that we are force fed the meat of an animal that our bodies will not recognize. as inherent nutrition. is not relative. is inert.)

sometimes i smell my parents on my words. and i weep.

just for tonight… just for tonight. be the tenderest thing. in the universe.

i will. and this will end. - closure | dankyes

i walk into a poem and walk out someone else. — writing

precious. is a word we barely know. but know we are not. so then i say this to you. you. with the low sun face. with the burning mountain eyes. you. with the skin is that is always dusted with stars. you. with the soil in your thigh. arm. lips. you person of color. you are precious. you are precious. you are precious. spend time with this.

the prayers where we do not wish others well. for all the brilliant. fetid. noxious. reasons. the prayers we want to wash from the sky. as soon as they leave our imagination. the ones born with no bones. so they leave no trace. the harmful prayers. we pray. because we have been harmed. we are forgiven those too. - the soft law (forgiveness)

to be waterdrugged into rejecting the nuances of my own bursting extraordinary self. and to have this be called education.

some words. the way they look at you…

the sun cleanses itself. i cleanse myself. for both of us. it is morning. — wudū

give your creativity permission. it's that simple, love.

be easy. take your time. you are coming home. to yourself. — the becoming | wing

i have a life to garden. a multiverse to wake from sleep. — giants

first. anti.blackness: black is non. second. fetish: black non ness is. fascination. taboo. obsession. necessary consumption. third. exotic: the act of making black non ness acceptable. touchable. valuable. fourth. anti.blackness: black is non. — the box circle

We softened. and broke. and kneeled over in pain. and sang. and threw ourselves against the walls. against each other. and hid. and caved. and opened. and tossed ourselves into work. and danced. and shrank. and closed. and ate. and bled. and held on. and ignored. and accepted. and lied. and laughed. and created. and undid. and drank. and drugged. and loved something. someone. somewhere. ourselves. fiercer. and hated. something. someone. somewhere. fiercer. and swam. and rejected. and yearned. and distanced. and clawed. and touched. and some of us will disown you. because you hurt too much. some of us will have to say your name for a year. before we are able to sleep.

chibok. (the immutable measure of black life.)

i want work that is a relentless oasis.

i have been wearing the ocean all day.

complexity is just simplicity which refuses to be anything else.

do not choose the lesser life. do you hear me. do you hear me. choose the life that is. yours. the life that is seducing your lungs. that is dripping down your chin.

i am trying to remember you and let you go at the same time. — the mourn

whenever i think about my mother and father. and the amount of cruelty i have ate at their hands. i remember that i am the best of them. and i am at peace. — redeem

you are not racism. you are not racism. you are not racism. you are not racism. you are not racism. your skin is not burden. there is no mark against you. your being is a holy beauty. you. are a holy beauty. — ether

your father left. when you were in the womb. took his blood. and walked out the door. while you were in the house of your mother. in the house of your mother. took his blood. when you needed it most. if he could keep searching his hands. in the midst of your creation. could hear you forming on your mother’s life. on his life. and gather all his feet in secret. all the other wild adventures of missing. he would drag you through. would only ever be this wound. over and over and over again. your father left. when you were in the womb. took his blood. and walked out the door. it would be the first and final. of all the leavings. — all the leavings

always docile. always stud. always inept. always killing. always ugly. always dumb. always drugs. always loathing. always tragic. always lurking. always animal. always respectable. politics. always high white. always fetish black. always unpowered. always hyperbolic. always fear. always on fire. always impotent. always destruction. always spectacle. always shatter. always exacted into the perfect porn star. to bring the world to orgasm. — emotional porn (the black image industry)

your novels. the classic novels of a minutia. i have no interest in. pale. in comparison to the novels of my world. the novel of my mother. the novels of my grandparents. the articulate novels of how my people walk down a street. the novels i have been reading my whole life. — classic

left. when you were in the womb. took his blood. and walked out the door. while you were in the house of your mother. in the house of your mother. took his blood. when you needed it most. if he could keep searching his hands. in the midst of your creation. could hear you forming on your mother’s life. on his life. and gather all his feet in secret. all the other wild adventures of missing. he would drag you through. would only ever be this wound. over and over and over again. your father left. when you were in the womb. took his blood. and walked out the door. it would be the first and final. of all the leavings. — all the leavings

the prayers where we do not wish others well. for all the brilliant. fetid. noxious. reasons. the prayers we want to wash from the sky. as soon as they leave our imagination. the ones born with no bones. so they leave no trace. the harmful prayers. we pray. because we have been harmed. we are forgiven those too. — the soft law (forgiveness)

there is dark. and there is anti light. these are not the same things.

when words take off their clothes. for me. so i can write. them exactly. as they are. — skin

the way a poem bleaches everything the color of itself. this is the way people stain. — pomegranate

what happens when the war. no. longer wants. war

don’t give. it. to your children. the thing. that was given to you.

i want to keep our body above water. you want to make us a fish. — fish

i will. and this will end. — closure | dankyes

poetry. is an infusion of scale and feather. bruise and mist.

you were born for you. you were wanted by you. you came for you. you are here for you. your existence is yours. yes. you will want him. (and on odd and warm nights he will think of you and hold himself tighter.) but. what you do not get. from him. does not make you less. does not make you unwanted. (trust that all you did not receive. all you need. will come to you. in time. the universe is infinite.’)

Lahko je s ljudima u današnji vakat, jel ti nešto nije lego samo ga u stranu gurneš i on namah skonta i nejma ti ga više. Prije je bilo drugačije. Mogo si ti njemu u lice rijet da ti nije lego, džaba, eto ti ga opet oko tebe se uzvrtio dok ti ne popustiš i opet počneš sa njim kahvu pit. Moro si ga sikterisat jal mršnut da bi te se okano, a zato je trebalo debelih razloga. U današnji vakat sve više i sve deblji razlozi, a sikterisat nekoga ko vode se napit. Kolko ljudi tolko i ćudi, govorili su. I nije svak na prvu, da ti legne i omili. Takih je malo, a od tog malo najviše ih je kvarno i ne misli ti dobro, neg se mili oko tebe sa kakvom namjerom, pa kad ti omili tek tad se i pokaže. Jah. Trebalo mi je čitav život da skontam da najvrijednije ljude moraš dobro potražit, a da te kvarnjaci sami nađu. I kad si ih prepozno neće ti odma leć, jok oni. Takvima treba vremena i vremena da ti se otvore, a kad ti se otvore sami, baš ko školjke, pokažu ti bisere ljepše neg onima što ih nasilu otvaraju da bi ih ukrali. Jah! Biva dobiješ prijatelja za čitav život.

melanin is memory. is the blue weight of the ocean. sewn into the red dusk of sky. living in the soil of your body. it is alive. leaping and sweeping you. against. into the sun. your skin was the first astronaut. the first in space. you touch. talk. are intimate with the sun. everyday. and do not perish. melanin. is the world. before this world. before the word. slave. during the word. slave. after the word. slave. it is the books. written into yourself. wild math in the pads of your feet. soft science in your hair. language down your back. invention in your mouth. melanin is why you are still alive. after. the torching. it is a second lung. the next heart. and the next heart. and the next. a never ending. regenerative. breathing thing. a ceremony of life. while you are asleep. a cosmos. in conversation. immortal. melanin is a wisdom that knew. hate would be the anti light come to devour. defile. destroy. a wisdom that did not flinch. a wisdom that is not bothered by such things. melanin is memory. future memory. past memory. your memory. the memory of life. all. in your skin. — melanin

you want a romance with my blackness. and how it holds you. how it illuminates your skin. makes you break your breath. against itself. and how is this possible. when your world has never made you breath. not once. ever. but my blackness makes you think about yourself. in a way you have never. and you are open. a question. alive. and now hungry. my blackness is your first love. you are convinced it is. showing you what your eyes could ‘never’ see before. a ‘world’ bigger. brighter. dark. dusky and wild. unashamed of itself. rebellious. and it’s cosmic. your relationship with how the night rolls off me into your hands. you and my blackness are soul mates. you met so you could learn. more. expand. because you always knew you were not like the others. who made sure they ate one white thing every day. no. you were always uncomfortable with yourself. you wear my culture around your neck. bask in and praise its jewels. pick it up on days when you want attention. put it down when it starts to stain. (you don’t want to be disrespectful and take more than you should. you just want to be a part of something so beautiful.) my blackness came to save you. came to help you escape. the clutches of racism. of having that beast anywhere inside you. around you. next to you. your comfort. intimacy. proximity. with my blackness confirms. and affirms. your nonracism. your lack of hate. it is this heady trip. this painful awesome tryst. that brings you. flushed and moon eyed. to my door with thank yous. and i love yous. you have taught me to be a better person. you have changed my life. but this was never a relationship. i have no idea who you are. and i laugh incredulous and insulted. at the notion that my blackness could ever be your first love. that my blackness is your freedom. that my blackness is yours. — fetish

Kad je insan pošten, a nije plaho gladan, nekako mu po' života prođe misleći vazda da je do nji'. Tek pod starost skonta da mu se isplatilo i da nejma Bog zna šta za ostavit, al' zato ima za ponijet kad sam pojde tamo odakle je sam i doš'o.

(that neverending nurturing you need. the sea has it.)

i try to write with weight and air. this way you are held and set free at the same time.

i am mine. before i am ever anyone else’s. — in

there were times when i needed. no. and it was not there for me. – the third parent

you must write. yourself. before you can write anything else.