I love my name. I love my mother for choosing my name. Couldn't imagine being called something else. My name is difficult for some. But I wouldn't have it any other way. I will most likely continue this tradition and give my daughter a difficult name. Hopefully she will appreciate it as I appreciate mine.
*Warsan Shire is a poet. Her words, her poems are something special. *
The Birth Name ---- Warsan Shire
the name warsan means good news in the somali language. i hated it. i despised my name. i wanted to be called something soft, something that ended with an "ah" sound. my name is difficult to whisper into the side of my face. my name is easy to use with a hard voice. i appreciate that now. the hesitation on the other side of the phone. the way they would replace my name with 'baby'. give your daughters difficult names. give your daughters names that command the full use of tongue. my name makes you want to tell me the truth. my name doesn't allow me to trust anyone that cannot pronounce it right.my mother calls me 'warsanay'. if a man ever tried to call me that, it means he understands that i am someone's daughter. it means i'll let him call me down from a long building. praise my grandmother, warsan baraka. my father's mother. the woman i was named after.
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