Nayyirah Waheed

“chibok. (the immutable measure of black life.)”

— Nayyirah Waheed

“healing begins the moment you want it to”

— Nayyirah Waheed

“i found flaws and they were beautiful. – ugly”

— Nayyirah Waheed

“my mother was my first country the first place i ever lived”

— Nayyirah Waheed

“we are never our own. we must change this fact. - acceptance”

— Nayyirah Waheed

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

— Nayyirah Waheed

“you are not a mistake. you are too many exquisite details to be a mistake.”

— Nayyirah Waheed

“expect sadness like you expect rain. both, cleanse you.”

— Nayyirah Waheed

“be softer with you. you are a breathing thing. a memory to someone. a home to a life.”

— Nayyirah Waheed

“Desire is the kind of thing that eats you and leaves you starving.”

— Nayyirah Waheed

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

— nayyirah waheed

“sometimes the beauty of my people is so thick and intricate. i spend days trying to undo my eyes so i can…

— nayyirah waheed

“Would you still want to travel to that country if you could not take a camera with you --- a question of…

— Nayyirah Waheed

“white people try to take blackness. pour it out rub it into their skin and wear us like they know what we…

— Nayyirah Waheed

“there have been so many times i have seen a man wanting to weep but instead beat his heart until it was…

— Nayyirah Waheed

“be insecure in peace. allow yourself lowness. know that it is only a country on the way to who you are. – traveling”

— Nayyirah Waheed

“in our own ways we all break. it is okay to hold your heart outside of your body for days. months. years.…

— Nayyirah Waheed

“the worst thing that ever happened to the world was the white man coming across gun powder. –– the end of the…

— Nayyirah Waheed

“why can we never talk about the blood. the blood of our ancestors. the blood of our history. the blood between our…

— Nayyirah Waheed

“bleed every month. but do not die. how am i not magic. – the lie”

— Nayyirah Waheed

“i don't pay attention to the world ending. it has ended for me many times and began again in the morning.”

— Nayyirah Waheed

“you not wanting me was the beginning of me wanting myself thank you”

— Nayyirah Waheed

“i have lost millions and millions of words to fear. tell me that is not violence”

— Nayyirah Waheed

“you broke the ocean in half to be here. only to meet nothing that wants you. – immigrant”

— Nayyirah Waheed

“i believe that everyone in the world. has one poem. that is their soulmate.”

— Nayyirah Waheed

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

— Nayyirah Waheed

“it is being honest about my pain that makes me invincible.”

— Nayyirah Waheed

“i knew you before i met you. i’ve known you my whole life.”

— Nayyirah Waheed

“both. i want to stay. i want to leave. i am three oceans away from my soul. – lost”

— Nayyirah Waheed

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

— Nayyirah Waheed

“Even if you are a small forest surviving off of moon alone, your light is extraordinary.”

— Nayyirah Waheed

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

— Nayyirah Waheed

“it is being honest about my pain that makes me invincible. – yield”

— Nayyirah Waheed

“the thing you are most afraid to write write that -- advice to young writers”

— Nayyirah Waheed

“i am simply the poet. the poem is the one that can change your life. – medium”

— Nayyirah Waheed

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

— Nayyirah Waheed

“never trust anyone who says they do not see color. this means to them you are invisible. – is”

— Nayyirah Waheed

“Chemistry is you touching my arm and it setting fire to my mind" Nayyirah Waheed”

— Nayyirah Waheed

“i love myself.' the quietest. simplest. most powerful. revolution. ever.”

— Nayyirah Waheed

“the truth is you were born for you. you were wanted by you. you came for you. you are here for you.…

— Nayyirah Waheed