Nejma by Nayyirah Waheed

In this post, I want to share a few poems of Nayyirah Waheed’s second book: Nejma. In the previous post, you can find my post dedicated to Waheed’s first book: Salt. As I stated the previous post, Nayyirah Waheed’s writing is so raw, it sometimes seems as if she is talking about you. I will not let you wait any longer! Please, read along and enjoy!

Nejma

i will hold this space for your return.
i will hold this space because
everyone of your lives. is our life.
this poem is searching for
You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You.You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You.You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You.You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You.You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You.You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You.You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You.You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You.You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You.You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You.You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You.You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You.You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You.You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You.
this poem will find you.
— chibok. (the immutable measure of
black life.)

personal opinion

This piece was obviously written for the 200+ schoolgirls that were taken by Boko Haram in Chibok, Nigeria. Why this piece speaks to me that much? Apparently, black lives do not matter, that is why black and brown deaths are not focused on by the media, especially when compared to the importance of white lives. I do not mean to say that no media outlet mentioned the 200+ missing schoolgirls, or black and brown deaths in general. However, there is never much of a public outcry when it comes to black and brown lives. And mostly, when black and brown deaths are spoken about, their criminal records come to light or the criminal records of their parents. Which is totally uncalled for, as if a misdemeanor or even a conviction in the past means that this person deserved to die. Especially, when on the other hand you have people like the Stanford-rapist that literally gets away with a warning and probation. It is so sad, that is why I believe it is important for people to be their own narrative. Nigerians or Africans should not have to wait until Western media would cry out for the 200+ missing schoolgirls and aid in the stopping of Boko Haram. #BringBackOurGirls was so important, and that was the narrative.

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

personal opinion

People act as if English is such a hard language and I have seen a lot of videos on the internet whereby Americans or Brits get mad when immigrants do not speak English. Do they not understand that someone who does not speak English, at least speaks one other language? While most of the people that get mad, do not even speak correct English themselves, which is so ironic. Also, a lot of things that can be said in Dutch, French, German, Spanish etc. cannot even be translated into English. Which is actually so beautiful. I catch myself sometimes, when I have to translate something from French to English for a friend, and there is nothing in English that can actually say what I want to say. Of course, this also happens vice versa. Now, remember: just because someone does not speak the language of the country, does not mean they are stupid or inferior.

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

personal opinion

I think people sometimes forget that they do not belong to someone, besides themselves. Your boyfriend or girlfriend is not your property, neither is your wife, your husband nor your children. Yes, your children are yours, however, they are not your property. You belong to yourself, and that is it. If nobody has your back, you have to have your own back. People do not belong to you, and they will never belong to you. I truly think that love is being able to be free in each other’s presence and having the trust that your significant other will choose you over anyone else (as a partner). Therefore, love is not about ownership or dominance. It is about freedom, communication, trust, loyalty etc. and being able to combine these factors in order to make everything else work in a relationship. You should be able to trust the other person to be honest and that whatever they are dealing with, will communicate that with you. Sometimes, this is not obvious and you would have to be fully open to it. Remember, you (should) come first.

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

personal opinion

I would say that this pertains to the fact that parents unconsciously give forth what their parents gave them, instead of not passing on this thing that they have been given. I think that it must be hard to break cycles of abuse as people who have been abused, show patterns that keep them in the cycle of abuse. For example, some people have been brought up with physical abuse from their parents and see abuse as a way to show love. So, in order to get rid of this, you have to be able to acknowledge the abuse. After acknowledging this pattern of abuse, one needs to re-define love and implement the gestures that have been acknowledged as signs of love and affection. When you read it, it may seem easy, because you and I may not be affected by abuse in this way or for whatever reason. Nonetheless, it is the transition that is the hardest. Letting go of old patterns and creating as well as establishing new ones. Still, we must not forget that we should not give it to our children, that, that was given to us. If you need help and or need to establish whether you’re being emotionally abused, please check out this link from Betterhelp.

the first time they saw it on their child. they said ‘no don’t you dare. you will not grow up thinking you are unwanted. because they. 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. not about me. you came through us, my love. we 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 (six ways) 

personal opinion

This is 2/6 of the love poem and it is so beautifully written. It is a very deep piece that (once again) is about rejection. I think that anyone that has been able to tell someone who’s been rejected something like this piece above, is a true angel. I would not know how to tell someone that being rejected has nothing to do with them in such a beautiful way. As described in Daniell Koepke’s piece, rejection is not about you. It is about those who reject you. They are selfish, chose themselves over you and here you are, still breathing and still existing. Your existence is about YOU! Not them, not me nor anyone else. And of course, sometimes you might catch yourself longing for those who have abandoned you, as those who’ve abandoned you will catch themselves longing for you. Contemplating, overthinking. However, that has nothing to do with you. The last part is so touching, 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.) That is exactly how I think about it. I truly believe that sometimes people suffer or gain from the choices their parents have made for themselves. However, it is always a balance, good output will lead to good input. Just trust that everything that you deserve will come back to you. You are worthy of love, affection. Don’t think that because someone decided not to give it to you, nobody else will. There are so many people that have been able to love unconditionally. And you my dear, you deserve that too!

Please check my post about Nayyirah’s first book: salt. here. You can follow Nayyirah Waheed on Facebook and you can buy her books on Amazon if you are interested :). Also, don’t forget to follow my NEW Instagram: @SnTwistedPhoto I will share with you my photography, which can also be found on IG with #SnTwistedPhoto. My personal Instagram is @SenegaleseTwisted and do not forget to follow my Facebook page here :). Thank you guys for reading.

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Love,

Khady