Belongings E-Book

Asma Elbadawi

• Herausgeber: Verve Poetry Press
• Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Seitenzahl: 52

Beschreibung

Belongings is, as it sounds, a collection of thoughts and feelings that depict the very heart of Asma's life as a British Sudanese woman. A life that contains multiple influences, expectations and juxtapositions. Her poems are raw and unfiltered – Asma holds little back in her work, covering subjects personal to her such as migration, mental health, racism and sport. These lines that started out as spoken pieces have finally made it to the page, to be read and savoured. Asma presents you with that which is hers. Her Belongings.

Leseprobe

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Asma Elbadawi is a British Sudanese born in Sudan and raised in England Sports Inclusivity Consultant, Basketball Player and Spoken Word Poet. Elbadawi holds a BA Hons in Photography, Video and Digital Imaging and a Masters in Visual Arts. Her dual cultural heritage deeply influences her creativity with her main focus being female empowerment. She is best known for her involvement in the globally successful FIBA ALLOW HIJAB Campaign. This campaign saw the International Basketball Federation FIBA allow Muslim women to wear the Hijab in Professional Basketball and as the 2015 Words First Leeds winner which is a National poetry competition partnered by BBC Radio 1Xtra and the Roundhouse.

Asma has been featured on major media outlets such as Vogue Arabia, Cosmopolitan, Hello Magazine, BBC Sport, BBC Three, BBC iPlayer, AJ+, Aljazeera, S24, Channel 4, Buzzfeed and more.

https://www.asmaelbadawi.com/

@asmaelbadawi

PUBLISHED BY VERVE POETRY PRESS

https://vervepoetrypress.com

[email protected]

All rights reserved

© 2021 Asma Elbadawi

The right of Asma Elbadawi to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

No part of this work may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, recorded or mechanical, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

FIRST PUBLISHED FEB 2021

Printed and bound in the UKby ImprintDigital, Exeter

ISBN: 978-1-912565-50-4

ePub ISBN: 978-1-912565-98-6

Cover image: Belal Abdelrahman @bash.249

To my dear mother, father and brother

CONTENTS

Introduction

Belongings

Headliner

Notes

Banshee

Kandaka

FIBA

Master

Foreign Tongue

Sacrifice

Summer

Prodigal Sun

Soil

Sudan Split

Blade

Playground

Dark & Lovely

Cold

Boys Will Be Boys

Body Language

Broken

Baba’s Tears

Fireplace

Shades

Entities

Dawn

Cycle of Life

The Waiting Room

Traffic Lights

Lockdown

Parts of Me

Sword

Stake

Half

Cage

Her Story

Handouts

Witness

Praise

Balance

Beloved Pilgrim

Honour

Paradox

Words

Acknowledgements

INTRODUCTION

I found myself writing poetry in private, after a creative writing lesson with Mr Heaton, my year 3 primary school teacher. There was something about it not having to be structured in a particular way that resonated with my young imaginative mind.

By the time I had gone to secondary school, it became a practice I needed to do more often - to organise my thoughts, and make sense of the world around me. I was in constant battles with my teachers. Many of them wanted me to be someone I wasn’t. I was far more interested in the arts and sport than all the other subjects they wanted me to give more attention to.

After school, I’d watch def poetry jam. Seeing brave women and men perform spoken word poetry about social issues so eloquently allowed me to experience the power of words. And somewhere at the back of my mind I was inspired to want to do the same one day.

When poetry kept accompanying my images during my studies, I knew my next step was to explore words alone, in front of an audience. So that’s what I did. At the start my hands and voice shook, I’d forget my lines and feel so embarrassed but as time went by my confidence grew and the stage became one of my favorite places.

After my performances, hearing my audience’s feedback about how they could relate to my work, I always felt thankful and grateful for the journey that had brought me here. And recalled a time when my writing always had red markings on it, pointing out spelling and grammatical mistakes. I remember hearing how my English teacher thought I would fail my English and Literature exams. And how many other teachers predicted I would fail in life too.

This book is proof to me that I didn’t fail and a reminder that we are all created in our unique ways, with our own paths and interests and identities. By not conforming to what was expected of me, following my passions and trusting God would lead the way, I found a voice in words I couldn’t spell.

I decided to name this book Belongings, after the first poem in the collection, in honour of my father who kept encouraging me to use my talents for the greater good, and has stood beside me from the day he walked me to my first day of nursery to standing beside me at my last graduation. And to my mother I dedicate my poem ‘Honour’, for taking me back to my roots every summer and instilling within me the understanding that faith is the foundation on which everything is built, staying connected to family is important and for teaching me a woman can be both feminine and strong.

The collection itself is a combination of my experiences and the experiences of those who have shared parts of themselves with me. It aims to take the reader on a journey and shed light on the many different personal and social issues we find in society today, covering topics such as mental health, racism, belonging and love.

Traditionally in my Sudanese culture a woman gives away her belongings before marriage. In my case I will be giving away my thoughts. I hope that by sharing them with you, it will give those of you who also write the courage to share your work too. It is by sharing our truths that we can truly understand one another and work towards a more inclusive and diverse world.

Thank you for choosing to accept my belongings, and welcome.

Asma Elbadawi, Sep 2020

Belongings

Belongings

Before I am stripped of my belongings and have no tangible hold

on the memories I harvested

There is much to do

There will be a time when I will have to answer to a man

that is not my father and he may not be as understanding

Because he wasn’t there the first day of nursery as I stood at the

lanky school gates in my pink dungarees

Nor was he there the day I confessed that maths is one of

my weaknesses

And though I admire the accurate craft of an architect

My hands were not created to build soaring skyscrapers and houses

therefore I am changing my degree