Writer's Instagram Handle: @_simplymaryamm
A little bit about the writer:
Hi there I'm Maryam, an immigrant from Nigeria who has lived in NYC for ten years. I am passionate about storytelling and aspire to become an immigration attorney. Recently, I started a substack to help marginalized aspiring law students with the law school admissions process. When I'm not busy with that, I enjoy going out, attending Islamic lectures, learning, and exploring new things.
A little bit about the work:
These works were inspired by self-exploration
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Tracing My Roots
I am from
a multitude of things,
A Lord whose mercy
surpasses all else.
A man who
continuously
chose mercy over despair.
Women whose experiences of abuse
could not keep them down.
A place where
green, white, green
are our colors,
and resilience, our motto.
A man and a woman
whose struggles
funneled their successes.
I am from
insecurities and pain,
now transcending beyond
memories and voices
that try to keep me down.
I will not let myself
be the one who
could not rise above
the trials standing in my path.
When I come from a
multitude of things, people
who pushed until
they were victorious.
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A Complexity of Characters
Contrasting actions, warring minds,
Emotionless, yet I am full of emotions.
Impassive expressions,
But look into my eyes,
Everything lays there,
Quiet but with so much to say.
Voices in my head will not shut up either,
Perceptive but would rather state the obvious,
Closed heart, but I am really an open book.
Hard to decipher, but I will tell you my life story,
Rough persona, yet too sensitive,
So much worries, so little shown,
Too many sorries, don’t really mean them all.
Prone to panicking, yet good at presenting
Some form of order.
I'm one thing but also really another—
What does that make me?
A painfully complex character?
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Conversations in Waiting
I plan out every conversation
in my head,
A script prepared
So I am always ready to go.
With whom?
I don’t always know.
But I am always ready to
explain why I do things
the way I do,
what I believe to be right,
even though no one asked.
The words are still
in my head,
waiting for someone
to ask,
I will be ready to tell it all.
If my thoughts, my mind, my head,
my anxiousness, or whatever else,
do not make my words
Stuck in my throat,
or make me forget
all I planned to say.
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