(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