Warsan Shire

I belong deeply to myself.

— Warsan Shire

“To love and lose and still be kind.”

— Warsan Shire

I tend to the wound so often, it never heals.

— Warsan Shire

You can't make homes out of human beings

— Warsan Shire

My heart is a flower blossoming out of my mouth.

— Warsan Shire

“You think I’ll be the dark sky so you can be the star? I’ll swallow you whole.”

— Warsan Shire

We took such care of tomorrow, but died on the way there.

— Warsan Shire

I want to love, but my hair smells of war and running and running.

— Warsan Shire

With you, intimacy colors my voice. Even 'hello' sounds like 'come here'.

— Warsan Shire

Your mouth is a lonely place but I keep coming back.

— Warsan Shire

My favourite people, biggest inspirations and closest friends are all women. Not a coincidence.

— Warsan Shire

To my daughter I will say, ‘when the men come, set yourself on fire.’

— Warsan Shire

You are terrifying, and strange, and beautiful. Something not everyone knows how to love.

— Warsan Shire

Document the moments you feel most in love with yourself - what you're wearing, who you're around, what you're doing. Recreate and…

— 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…

— Warsan Shire

I won't glorify or romanticise heartbreak, for me it was a kind of death and I was forced to keep living.

— Warsan Shire

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

— Warsan Shire

Mother says there are locked rooms inside all women, kitchen of love, bedroom of grief, bathroom of apathy. Sometimes, the men, they…

— Warsan Shire

At the end of the day, it isn’t where I came from. Maybe home is somewhere I’m going and never have been…

— Warsan Shire

Two people who were once very close can without blame or grand betrayal become strangers. Perhaps this is the saddest thing in…

— Warsan Shire

“you were like an ulcer on the inside of my cheek that my tongue could not stop touching. loving you was like…

— Warsan Shire

Warsan means "good news" and Shire means "to gather in one place". My parents named me after my father's mother, my grandmother.…

— Warsan Shire

“if you gave me half a moon of a chance i would kiss the incisors out of your mouth, clean and hold…

— Warsan Shire

My name is indigenous to my country, it is not easy to pronounce, it takes effort to say correctly and I am…

— Warsan Shire

Every mouth you’ve ever kissed was just practice. All the bodies you’ve ever undressed and ploughed in to were preparing you for…

— Warsan Shire

“every mouth you’ve ever kissed was just practice all the bodies you’ve ever undressed and ploughed in to were preparing you for…

— Warsan Shire

Give your daughters difficult names. Give your daughters names that command the full use of the tongue. My name makes you want…

— Warsan Shire

I think in Somali, I cuss in Somali, when I'm afraid I reach for somali and this language is very rich, very…

— Warsan Shire

“i gut fruit with my mouth push tongue into black belly of papaya peel lychee with teeth bite into ripe pear suck…

— Warsan Shire

“You tried to change didn’t you? closed your mouth more tried to be softer prettier less volatile, less awake but even when…

— Warsan Shire

“i don't know when love became elusive what i know, is that no one i know has it my fathers arms around…

— Warsan Shire

Essentially, if our secrets are secrets because we are told to be ashamed, then we must share them. There is no shame…

— Warsan Shire

“fit in here, in my palm, in my shadow, don’t be bigger than my idea of you, don’t be more beautiful than…

— Warsan Shire

Poetry is like a portrait of a moment or person, and the poem is almost like looking at a photograph; it slaps…

— Warsan Shire

“i give myself five days to forget you. on the first day i rust. on the second i wilt. on the third…

— Warsan Shire

“you must wear it like she wears disappointment on her face you must hide the surprise of tasting other men on your…

— Warsan Shire

“1. I’m lonely so I do lonely things 2. Loving you was like going to war; I never came back the same.…

— Warsan Shire

I have my mother’s mouth and my father’s eyes; on my face they are still together.

— Warsan Shire

“you can't make homes out of human beings someone should have already told you that”

— warsan shire

My alone feels so good, I'll only have you if you're sweeter than my solitude.

— Warsan Shire