WEBVTT

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My name is Safia Elhillo,

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and this poem is called 
"to make use of water."

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dilute

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i forget the arabic word for economy

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i forget the english word for عسل

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forget the arabic word for incense

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& english word for مسكين

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arabic word for sandwich

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english for صيدلية & مطعم & وله 

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stupid girl, atlantic got your tongue

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blur

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back home we are plagued by 
a politeness so dense

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even the doctors cannot call 
things what they are

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my grandfather’s left eye

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swirled thick with smoke

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what my new mouth can call glaucoma

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while the arabic still translates to

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the white water

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swim

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i want to go home

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dissolve

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i want to go home

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drown

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half don’t even make it out or across

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you get to be ungrateful

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you get to be homesick

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from safe inside your blue 
american passport

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do you even understand
what was lost to bring you here.