
“Poetry is nuclear energy squeezed into lines.”
— Gülten Akın
For this month, rather than share a winter or holiday poem, I wanted to share a series of short poems by Nayyirah Waheed. I am a big fan of short poems because you don’t always need long narratives to tell a story. I believe there is so much power in words and gifted is the person who can invoke a deep meaning, a moment, or a feeling that is real, truthful, and purposeful in only a few words—as Waheed does. She shows us that sometimes less is more.
A Series of Short Poems
by Nayyirah Waheed
i am relieved.
when
i see the feminine presence
in a man’s eyes.
it means
he is a peace
i do not
have
to
bring to him.
— ease
if you show
someone the sun in your bones
and they reject you
you must remember
they hurt themselves this very same way.
— unable
i am mine
before i am ever anyone else’s.
— in
i am trying to remember you
and
let you go
at
the same time.
— the mourn
you broke the ocean in
half to be here.
only to meet nothing that wants you.
— immigrant
even if you are a small forest surviving off of
moon alone.
your light is extraordinary.
— reminder
(Photograph by Roman Averin found here.)
Oh I love these!!! How beautiful!
She’s a great poet–I love her poems. I follow her on Instagram.