[Spoken Word] Go Easy on Yourself, Habibti

did you hear the news?
the blood flowed and she was handed a hijab
wash the stains, cover the head, hide the chest
it's a haemorrhage of her childhood.
listen, there is blood on the streets too.
it's not hers. bodies lie in plain sight.
how will she wash these stains?
rainwater returns to the beds of roses.
she's Trending, it's all over the news
it's all over
sister, you're no longer
part of the hood. you took it off
and here i Unfollow you. this vlog
i Dislike.
you think she got the Makki years,
you think it's easy for her to testify to tawhid
but wasn't it always: here! wear this, fix that, do it, pray now, question later, answer never.
the mothers of believers, the earliest sisters
got the years needed to adopt a behaviour.
when we're not Trending on twitter for being dead
or the alleged cause of death,
most of us are working or helping someone else work paycheque to paycheque.
God said the night was made for resting
but the world said there is no rest for the one on the night shift.
angels gather when she speaks of God,
what harm can harm her when she is witnessed?
rainwater evaporates like a textbook lesson. the sun is ablaze and a barren field blossoms. look, it's a storm of sunflowers.
she picks up a letter she's written to God.
I'm excited for us to meet, ya Rabb.
the mountains she loves turn to dust.
the sky opens into gates. a trumpet blows, and Israfil exhales.

by Ayesha Nasir