Poetry Break: What They Did Yesterday Afternoon by Warsan Shire

Poetry, at its best, cuts through the darkness to make sense of an insensible world.

One of my favorite living poets is Warsan Shire. As I’ve mentioned on here before, I routinely use her piece Home as my introduction to refugee and asylum law. I believe that poem compels the reader/listener to see the harsh realities of forced migration.

In 2015, I highlighted a different Warsan Shire poem: What They Did Yesterday Afternoon. Then, I was writing about the 2015 Paris attacks, although the poem itself was written by Shire about the UK’s 2011 “August riots.” 

In 2015, I offered you only a portion of Shire’s poem. Today, I bring you the whole. 

Perhaps her words will speak to your heart, as they did mine today.

What They Did Yesterday Afternoon

by Warsan Shire

they set my aunts house on fire
i cried the way women on tv do
folding at the middle
like a five pound note.
i called the boy who use to love me
tried to ‘okay’ my voice
i said hello
he said warsan, what’s wrong, what’s happened?

i’ve been praying,
and these are what my prayers look like;
dear god
i come from two countries
one is thirsty
the other is on fire
both need water.

later that night
i held an atlas in my lap
ran my fingers across the whole world
and whispered
where does it hurt?

it answered
everywhere
everywhere
everywhere.

-KitJ