16 Quotes by Warsan Shire that Bandage Bleeding Wounds

Tiless Turnquest
Jun 3, 2017
2 min read

With war in her very name, I think it's rational to expect a formidable woman. And Warsan Shire does not disappoint. Here is a Kenyan born, Somali-British poet that has complete control over the heart of language, and as a result, the heartstrings of her readers. Shire creates a world between her's and our's, allowing us to visit her mind while she accesses our's, making us feel complicated emotions by her simplistic diction and sentence formation. But it is through her simplicity that her words are felt the most! Here are 16 quotes by Warsan Shire that assist the heart in repairing itself when it must be its own surgeon.

"I want to love, but my hair smells of war and running and running."
"You can't make homes out of human beings."
"I'm lovely and lonely. I belong deeply to myself."
"We took such care of tomorrow and died on the way there."
"Perhaps, the problem is not the intensity of your love but the quality of the people you are loving."
"My alone feels so good, I'll only have you if you are sweeter than my solitude."
"No one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark."
"Loving you was like war; I never came back the same."
"If it'll keep my heart soft, break my heart everyday."
"You are terrifying, and strange, and beautiful. Something not everyone knows how to love."
"I need someone who knows how to stay."
"The ego hurts you like this: you become observant with the one person who doesn't love you. Blind to the rest who do."
"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.”
attracts parasites. warmth attracts moths and your light"But sometimes your Protect your space and energy.”
The only darkness we should allow into our lives is the night, for even then, we have the moon.”
“Not everyone is okay with living like an open wound. But the thing about open wounds is that, well, you aren’t ignoring it. You’re healing; the fresh air can get to it. It’s honest. You aren’t rotting. People can give you advice on how to heal without scarring badly. But on the other hand there are some people who’ll feel uncomfortable around you. Some will even point and laugh. But we all have wounds.”