Waking the Wild: a poetry collection

By Nadia Hasan

Nadia Hasan showcases her poetic growth in her second book of poetry. From the facets of day to day living, through the darkness of loss and the pain of grief, comes Waking the Wild. Written with both fairytale-like whimsy and poignant vulnerability, this collection seeks to remind us all of the resilience of the human spirit.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fire Lotus Books
• Release date: May 30, 2016
• ISBN: 9781944062019

Nadia Hasan

Nadia Hasan (she/her) is a momma, elected leader, community organizer, human resources professional, and former educator raising Muslim kids in America. She lives with her husband and 3 kids in Beaverton, Oregon, and believes in our shared humanity to come together for a better future.

Book preview

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Can your soul hear

the call of the sun

beckoning your return?

Do the mountains

echo through a

misty shroud of memories

and the spirits of your

ancestors sing from

beneath the earth?

Can you feel the pull

of a far-off place

that you have never seen

but find nightly in

dreams that you can't

quite recall?

A land that you've never

tread, never lived in and

yet, never left at all.

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Fine.

What a lie.

Said so much

like it's a line

in a rehearsed play.

Why do we bite back

all the things

we want to say?

Why

do we put up brave fronts

when we're so far

from okay?

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My hair is constantly shedding

leaving strands woven into clothes or

wrapped around fingers,

falling into carpets.

Maybe my DNA is careless

or carefree

A friend says losing hair

is natural, we lose so many strands a day.

Another friend plucks my strands

from between her fingers, twisting it

I'll save it for voodoo or something.

and she smiles.

Maybe it's a gift

traces of myself that I'll leave

behind, when people often disappear so quickly

leaving nothing at all.

I can't help wondering

what other pieces of myself have I lost,

walked away from,

without realizing they were gone?