Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth by Warsan Shire

Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth by Warsan Shire
My Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Finished Reading: June 20, 2018
Format: Book
Favorite Quote(s):

"I hear them say go home, I hear them say f---ing immigrants, f---ng refugees. Are they really this arrogant? Do they not know that stability is like a lover with a sweet mouth upon your body one second; the next you are a tremor lying on the floor covered in rubble and old currency waiting for its return. All I can say is, I was once like you, the apathy, the pity, the ungrateful placement and now my home is the mouth of a shark, now my home is the barrel of a gun."

Review:
I picked up this book because I had read part of an included poem that had been circulating around social media. The poem is "Conversations About Home (at the Deportation Centre)." It turned out to be my favorite poem in the book. Though slightly misquoted (or perhaps it was paraphrased) on social media, the lines that get me the most read: "I hear them say go home, I hear them say f---ing immigrants, f---ng refugees. Are they really this arrogant? Do they not know that stability is like a lover with a sweet mouth upon your body one second; the next you are a tremor lying on the floor covered in rubble and old currency waiting for its return. All I can say is, I was once like you, the apathy, the pity, the ungrateful placement and now my home is the mouth of a shark, now my home is the barrel of a gun." This quote is incredibly timely for where we are as a country (the US). I think we use immigrants as scapegoats and spread hateful propaganda about who these people are and why they are coming to our country. I am particularly bothered by the hateful rhetoric directed at refugees who literally have no where else to go. I believe it's shameful and evil. However, I think this particular quote in this particular poem helps to shift the perspective of the privileged people who happened to be born here. At least I hope it does.