Teaching My Mother How To Give Birth by Warsan Shire
I had my first introduction to Warsan Shire through the research project I had to do for my poetry class. Many people had the pleasure of reading her work but, as always, I was late to the party. The first time I've listened to Shire's poem was through Beyonce's Lemonade and it left me speechless.
Warsan Shire was born in Kenya in 1988 to Somali parents. At the age of one, Shire immigrated to England with her parents because her father, who was a writer and journalist, wrote a book questioning the government. As a child, Shire was interested in poetry. In an interview, Shire comments on the time she wrote her very first poem stating, “…I remember feeling very close to my father when he read it; he was so proud. He was fully present in that moment, perhaps I have been trying to recreate that by writing more poems, but it did happen again” (Wassenberg, Anya). Shire currently resides in Los Angeles.
Teaching My Mother How To Give Birth is a slim book consisting of 34 pages. It is one of those books that although looks small will irrevocably change your life. At the end, you will be left with a vague sense of existential crisis as the words linger in your veins and dissolve into your bloodstream. Each and every poem in Teaching My Mother How To Give Birth is full of rich imagery, both positive and negative, leaving you in astonishing wonder and a deep feeling of sonder.
One poem that I really like in the book is called "Ugly." The tragic beauty of this poem always captures my heart.
"Your daughter's face is a small riot,
her hands are a civil war,
a refugee camp behind each ear,
a body littered with ugly things.
But God
doesn't she wear the world well?"
★★★★★/5
Author's Instagram Goodreads Amazon Barnes&Noble
Shire, Warsan. Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth. Lightning Source Inc, 2014.
Warsan Shire was born in Kenya in 1988 to Somali parents. At the age of one, Shire immigrated to England with her parents because her father, who was a writer and journalist, wrote a book questioning the government. As a child, Shire was interested in poetry. In an interview, Shire comments on the time she wrote her very first poem stating, “…I remember feeling very close to my father when he read it; he was so proud. He was fully present in that moment, perhaps I have been trying to recreate that by writing more poems, but it did happen again” (Wassenberg, Anya). Shire currently resides in Los Angeles.
Teaching My Mother How To Give Birth is a slim book consisting of 34 pages. It is one of those books that although looks small will irrevocably change your life. At the end, you will be left with a vague sense of existential crisis as the words linger in your veins and dissolve into your bloodstream. Each and every poem in Teaching My Mother How To Give Birth is full of rich imagery, both positive and negative, leaving you in astonishing wonder and a deep feeling of sonder.
One poem that I really like in the book is called "Ugly." The tragic beauty of this poem always captures my heart.
"Your daughter's face is a small riot,
her hands are a civil war,
a refugee camp behind each ear,
a body littered with ugly things.
But God
doesn't she wear the world well?"
★★★★★/5
Author's Instagram Goodreads Amazon Barnes&Noble
Shire, Warsan. Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth. Lightning Source Inc, 2014.
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