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"To Make Use of Water" by Safia Elhillo

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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.
Title:
"To Make Use of Water" by Safia Elhillo
Description:
more » « less
Video Language:
English
Team:
closed TED
Project:
TED-Ed
Duration:
02:05

English subtitles

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