Poem by Lilly Butt

(Second Generation British-Kashmiri)

I don’t wear my faith on my sleeve,

But it lives in the pauses in my heart

In whispered prayers

Before big meetings,

In the silence I keep

When the room doesn’t always hear me

Raised on authentic foods and fragrant love

My parents gave me roots,

But no map..

Just prayers, and the push to always be more.

Now I sit at tables they never imagined,

Talk wellbeing,

Build bridges,

Make space for students

Who carry their own in-betweens.

British. Muslim. South Asian. Me.

Not always heard,

But always enough.

Words by Lilly