Remembering to never forget the olives that you fed me

Remembering to never forget the olives that you fed me by Samia Sayed was created as part of the Firstdraft Writers program, 2019.

you’re like a lullaby that helped me sleep through the nights of a warzone

even though you were only meant to play in the morning to make me feel alive again,

with the smell of fresh zaatar and bread

my muse, 

i still remembered them, 

they remembered me, 

every time i hear your voice,

every time i listen to your music you make my body move in away that speaks to,

those who control, 

let me go and ill promise you a forgotten task

my friend promised me

what was polite was what you remembered,

my whole life i’ve cried,

in one tear my life changed, 

i counted all the names and erased them, 

good luck trying to sleep without the milk that birthed you

i don’t know who’s it is, 

don’t forget the names that erase you 

i am tied to this language through the nights and mornings of weeping how you’ll never be erased. 

i met your name sake and she had no idea who you were.

Remembering to never forget the olives that you fed me, 2019 is a participatory installation which invited audiences to engage with an offering of written and spoken word that unpacks trans-generational exchanges and resistance against the erasure of non-anglo phonic languages. This work is a portal into negotiations of language as a first generation migrant between multiple worlds set against the backdrop of a culture that heralds multiculturalism but denies multilingualism. This work was developed with the support of Mona Sayed and  Dj Gemma.