With you, intimacy colors my voice. Even 'hello' sounds like 'come here'.

Document the moments you feel most in love with yourself - what you're wearing, who you're around, what you're doing. Recreate and repeat.

I tend to the wound so often, it never heals.

Give your daughters difficult names. Give your daughters names that command the full use of the 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.

I tore up and ate my own passport in an airport hotel once. I'm bloated with language I can’t afford to forget.

Warsan means "good news" and Shire means "to gather in one place". My parents named me after my father's mother, my grandmother. Growing up, I absolutely wanted a name that was easier to pronounce, more common, prettier. But then I grew up and understood the power of a name, the beauty that comes in understanding how your name has affected who you are.

Two people who were once very close can without blame or grand betrayal become strangers. Perhaps this is the saddest thing in the world.