nejma

Oh look, more poetry. I can't seem to get enough of it lately. I feel like I said this 15 times. So this is the second and the latest Waheed collection. One of the first things that caught my eye about this collection was the beautiful cover design. Blue skys, honey clouds, with a sort of dreamy feel to it. It fits her writing style quite nicely. And what else can I say? This one is definitely a lot different from salt. This one focuses more on the art of writing itself. Specifically poetry, one of the most under appreciated art forms, especially when it's written by People of Color.Waheed speaks of poetry in it's barest of forms, that type that is the most intimate. The act of introversion and unraveling one's insecurities, bleeding out inky words, to reveal the truest of one's own soul. There are also poems about Nelson Mandela and family.But I feel like in this collection, the writing was a bit more filled in. It had a more solid feel, like a chunk of salt, but also sweet like honey, much like the previous collection. And maybe even a bit more violent than before, draining all liquid from your tongue.Nejma felt more spiritual, deeper within her. Traveling from home to childhood. There's also stars and gravity, atmospheres. I had a silly thought while reading this, I wondered what would it be like if Waheed wrote a science fiction novel, I'm not sure why, but I kind of got a sci-fi feel from this. If she wrote a sci-fi novel or a verse novella with a sci-fi theme, oh my, it would be freaking cool.I felt like Nejma struck me a little bit more. A lot of people on Goodreads weren't a huge fan of it, but I felt like there was something a bit more. It had, I don't know, let me use this quote:, "I think that Cheer is a fantastic lyricist, her lyrics appear to be a soft knife that looks harmless but is actually sharp." - Ashin, singer and lyricist of Taiwanese rock band, Wu Yue Tian, commenting on another fellow Taiwanese musician, Chen Qi Zhen, also known as Cheer Chen.Soft and sweet, but there was just something more. A very sneaky little knife that will wake you up with its love.One of the poems that really struck me was the one called "the hot wash." where she spoke of the dead White guy literature that we have to read in school. It reminded me of how one day I said something dumb like, "African American writers were influenced by White writers." I wasn't sure what the hell I meant, or even remember the whole thing I said, but during that time, the internalized racism was definitely within me, even now I am still healing. Although I will admit that even since the beginning, I didn't really enjoy dead White guy literature that much anyway. I think I read more dead Japanese guys than dead White guys. I'm fond of David Foster Wallace and Franz Kafka, but that's sort of it.What really curdles my stomach though, is that every time we read about African Americans and racism, it's always Harper Lee, instead of James Baldwin or any of the others. I did read Ernest Gaines for school once, and that was it. It was always Harper Lee or White people writing about Black people and winning all of the rewards for it. And it makes me think, being Black, Latina, and Eastern Asian, I could sort of understand some perspectives, right? More than a White person right? No, a White woman will win the reward and get on the "most diverse characters list." A White woman will write the most fetishsized interracial couple in a novel and win awards for it, while somebody like me will write the same thing and get no recognition. A White person will write a mixed race character and get praise and if I do, I will be mocked. It's a sad world. But writing isn't about praise or rewards, I could live without that, but that poem made me think of so many things.When a person of color reads the words of their own people, it's sort of like reading another you with another name and another body. And if you like the book, it's like falling in love with yourself.And finally here is my rating and I apologize for such a ranting filled post.Rating: 4.5/5Originally posted here: http://wordsnotesandfiction.blogspot.com/2014/12/nejma-by-nayyirah-waheed.html

‘sometimes i want to say it.and there is nothing in english. that will say it.’The poem above epitomizes Nayyirah Waheed’s transcendence of language in her follow-up to her collection Salt. Nejma feels ethereal from cover to cover, a stark difference between the minimalistic style of her first collection. Nayyirah touches heavily on the constructs of blackness and whiteness, using the sharp contrast of the negative space and the black ink on the pages to do so. Nayyirah remains true to herself in this second collection, discussing race, the feminine and the masculine, and ultimately love in all forms.The work in Nejma is an even combination of sweet one-liners and lengthier poems. The longer poems are thick with truth and criticism of the lack of visibility of writers of color in literature and poetry and the grief of losing an identity you never knew to the western world.  As she writes in “The Hot Wash”,to take my name out of my nameout of where my native poetry lives. in me.andreplace it with keats, browning, dickson, wolf, joyce. wild. plathe. [...]The work in Nejma serves to embolden writers of color. It breathes courage a necessary voice in literature. It is a calling for us to recall our magic and tell the stories that need to be told. She speaks to lovers of all literature in reminding the world of the importance of artists that look like us. Salt was for the lovers, Nejma is for the the creators.

I'm an English & Creative Writing major, which means I deal with a fair share of all kinds of poetry on a daily basis. But that's not what makes my opinion at all credible. It's that poetry is my passion. It is and always has been. Stringing simple words to form an entity so large that it has the power to transcend so many boundaries and still cannot be adequately defined or explained, just shared and experienced by people whose lives have seemingly nothing in common...until they happen to stumble upon words typed on a page that embrace them, resonate with them, make them feel validated, less alone. When a poet accomplishes this, time and time again, no less- as nayyirah waheed does, the words become part of you. nayyirah's words feel as though they have always been a part of you. I can't count the number of times I read her poems and recognized myself in them- recognized thoughts and feelings for which I could never find the proper words, could never verbalize myself. And for that, I am so thankful.I discovered waheed's work by chance on Instagram, which was a first for me. But there's something pretty amazing about that- discovering such talent not because it's on your syllabus, but because such platforms exist allowing writers and artists to put their work out there and release it into the world---and alternatively, allowing readers to come by a writer like nayyirah waheed whose poetry is so powerful, it inspires you to write your first Amazon review (seriously. this is my first one).Pick this book up. Just pick it up and you'll understand.

I read the book in just one sitting. I have the book 'salt' by the same author and I must say in comparison to the book nejma, 'salt' comes first place for me. Although saying this I feel I should have read one poem or two a day, as I feel there is much meaning in just one poem alone, which was hard for me to grasp the first time around. I definitely feel so much could be learnt from each poem. This book of poems is to be read over and over again, readers will not get tired of the book. I'm so happy I made this purchase and I'm looking forward to more books from this author.

Salt was my first introduction to Nayyirah Waheed. Then I read Nejma and I became enamoured all over again. I feel that it's futile to compare the books because they each have a distinct personality in how they have been created. The poems in Nejma speak to me in ways I hadn't experienced when learning about poetry in High School. The fact that Nayyirah discusses identity mixed with imagery of stars, I feel like this book almost cleanses you. Writing like this is rare. Beautiful.

Nayirrah Waheed has a gift for crafting poetry that is both ethereal and raw. Her work powerfully and beautifully centres on the themes of womanhood, race and identity. Loved this collection and would also highly recommend Salt.

I did not knowThatThe colour of mySkinMatteredAs a poetI thought it wasThe wordsThat mattered.You SHOUTAboutCOLOURI hearNo colourI only seeYOU

Got if for free. A little snippet. Not really sure what to make of it. Maybe the rest is better. Glad I didn't buy it but I'm sure by the other reviews it seems like the rest of it is good.