“your soul is inflamed
good.
pay attention.
find water.
come inside.

-map”

Nayyirah Waheed is a minimalist poet who uses the least amount of words to achieve a massive impact. Her poems span across genres of romance, tragedy, recovery, and so forth. While she does not appreciate sharing information about her personal life, one only has to read her work to know her. She’s all of us. She’s the grieving mother, the lamenting lover, the euphoric mistress, and a vicious warrior.

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Suggested read: These Profound Quotes By Sarah Kay Will Pull At Your Heartstrings

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Here is a compilation of 25 Nayyirah Waheed poems to melt your heart:

1. Own the storm within you.

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We’re tornadoes stuck in civility. Sometimes, it’s okay to let your heart loose. It’s okay to break some walls, to let release the beast you chain under your ‘principles’. Nature knows no sophistry, and your heart is the greatest volcano to have ever existed. Let it burn as bright as the midnight sun.

2. You belong wherever you want to.

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In a world that discriminates on the basis of your existence, choose to be yourself. Hold your head high above the preachers of ‘what is natural’. You’re as close to heaven as this Earth will get, so believe in yourself. You have every right to be here; every right to be alive. It is in your blood to seek your own happiness.

3. Accept the damage, because recovery isn’t far behind.

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You will heal. Wear your wounds like battle scars. They are testament to a heart that would not give up. The best of ships have rough days on the sea. There will be times when you’re so close to the edge, you’ll smell death off your fingertips. Do not be afraid. Life goes a full circle. You are bigger than your wounds, and you will remain undefeated.

4. Love fills the voids you never knew existed.

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It feels like you’re coming home, even when you never really left. It makes you feel a kind of comfort you did not know existed, as though the sky suddenly had too many rainbows. It fills all the blank spaces you had hidden somewhere far away. Love finds the darkest spots of your soul, and sits inside with you.

5. You will lose yourself in many places.

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This world is never going to be enough for you. There are parallel Universes being carried in beating hearts, and hardbound covers. Every day, you will set out to look for a new world, new grounds to conquer, new spaces to fade into. You will chase adventure in every outlet there is. And God knows, there are one too many.

6. Maybe your freedom will make you lose people.

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I want you to know that it’s okay. Sometimes, we can have miles between people sitting next to us. Our hearts have moved further away with each passing day. Do not lament over it. Hold your memories, pack them into boxes, put them on the shelf allotted for good things, then close the cupboard once and for all.

7. Disasters come without warnings.

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Sometimes, I wish I knew he was going to turn into a monster. At other times, I’m glad I didn’t. It would not have changed anything. Whatever has to happen, will happen. At any cost. At any time. Without your permission. Accept life as it comes.

8. I’m sorry for the sacrifices you have made.

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I know how hard it is to swim through oceans, with sharks tearing through your skin. I know how hard it is to leave your heart at a doorstep, and returning to footprints embedded into your nerves. I’m sorry for anybody who did not love you. They missed their chance at a miracle.

9. Hold yourself close, through it all.

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At times, we forget that we are our own responsibility; that our heart beats to our own rhythm, and we much learn to listen. In giving parts of ourselves away, we end up committing a criminal offense against our soul. Look after the glitter in your eyes. Listen to what your soul needs. And, never ever compromise with your happiness.

10. You belong to yourself.

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You were not made to please other people. Everything about you is at your disposal. Pick carefully. Do not part with your magic simply because somebody lays claim to it. That is not how this Universe works, and nobody can ever own you.

11. Do not see yourself from the eyes of an ex-lover.

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Sometimes, good things fade away. It takes weeks, months, or maybe years, to realize that it happened for the best. But simply because somebody left, does not mean you abandon yourself. You are more than someone’s desire or judgment scale. Do not let somebody else’s existence define yours.

12. Do not bite away the ‘inappropriate’ words.

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Who you want to be, is nobody else’s business. Who you are, is not subject to codes of society. Let it go. Don’t spend nights rewriting yourself to fit into age-old boxes. They are not for you. Do not accept the invitation to a party of stereotypes. Among 7 billion people, there is only one of you. Cherish yourself.

13. Own up to the hurt.

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You can push the pain to the farthest corner. You can push it to the top of a building so you cannot hear its sound. But darling, it will break through all the floors, and rush into your arms like a tragic mess. So, instead, call it to your bedroom. Hug it tight. Sing it to sleep. And one day, when it becomes a part of you, it will disappear.

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14. Even superheroes have rough days.

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As a woman, I wake up each day, wondering how the world plans to shock me. You see, it always comes up with new tactics, new game-plans, new morse codes that everybody else seems to understand. We are not defeated, and we are still fighting. But I swear by every star there is, that I’d like to take my armour off someday.

15. You do not become your circumstances.

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You are not a bad person simply because bad things happened to you. Repeat after me: “I am bigger than this pain. I am bigger than what they think of me, or how the world chose to treat me today. I am bigger than anything pulling me down. This storm will pass, but I will still be here when it’s gone. I will survive.”

16. I love you.

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Dear Reader, I’m sure this feels generic. But if you have gotten this far, then you and I know some things about each other. I want you to know that I’m proud of how you’re doing, proud of how you keep fighting for yourself. I don’t care if it’s something as seemingly small as making it out of bed. Trust me, I know how legs can turn to lead. Give yourself a hug.

17. Your consent matters.

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I know love can sometimes be overwhelming. I know that you want to see them happy. I know how hard it hits, when they make you feel like you’re denying them something that they deserve. Well, take it from me, they don’t. You belong to yourself. Your body is not a playground. Restrict access, restrict consent, restrict feeling sad about people who cannot see beyond your body.

18. What men call ‘feminine’ is basic humanity.

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I have never understood how you shame the very womb you came out of. We put God on a pedestal, we worship our deities, and abide by rules they wrote thousands of years ago. We worship a God that did not breastfeed us, did not stay up all night to stop our cries, did not miss office because we fell ill. And yet, they have the audacity to shame their own mothers.

19. How toxic a ‘masculinity’ that takes your emotions away.

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It pains to see men clench their tears away, as though it’s as heinous a crime as murder. How abusive a collective conscience that does not allow you to feel. Make yourself human. Let the boundaries go. Crying a river will not alter anything between your legs.

20. Take time off from ‘being’.

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For a few days, switch off. Lose your remote, mute the constant buzz of emails, let your phone sleep. Be unavailable to the whole world. It is bliss to float in a space where time has stopped. This is your zone. Recharge and recover.

21. There will be time.

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There will be days when you are less than what you aim to be. On that day, stay home, order ice cream, and forgive your heart. There will always be time. You can come back tomorrow and pick up the trails. Every time the sun shines, it brings you another chance. So, do not worry if you falter on some days. This is far from the end.

22. Whoever went to heaven, is safe and sound.

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This poem always chokes me up. There is nothing that compares to the pain of losing your loved ones, and there is no consolation. But if you want to know a secret, then I’ll tell you that your prayers will always cover them in warmth.

23. Broken homes make warriors.

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Do not let the anger die. Feel it growl in the pit of your stomach, feel it crawl through your veins, feel it until it propels you out of darkness. Then find it in its broken form, and let it go.

24. Poetry changes you.

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This holds true for all Nayyirah Waheed poems. It will burn you to the core, mould you, and shape you into an instrument of beauty. You begin love yourself more than you ever thought possible. Waheed understands human psyche, and courts darkness like a suitor.

25. You deserve the best this world has got.

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Treasure yourself. You are the best thing to have happened to this world. Be very proud of it. Take some time each day, to appreciate the gloriousness that you are. All the forces of Nature are moving to the sound of your heartbeat.

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Is your heart a puddle, yet? Nayyirah Waheed poems have the ability to affect your very core. I hope you have found your safe place. Come back here in times of rain or storm. These words will never fail you.