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Ways I Am Tired Lyrics by Fatimah Asghar

Issue Fourteen

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how many times has someone killed
my name before meeting me?
my own lover bleeds out asghar
with a knife, cuts the seeds
from the pepper & doesn’t worry
if it will continue to grow.
a seedless hari mirch. it’s getting
harder for me to eat spicy food
& I pretend I don’t know why.
all my life I’ve been trying to remember
who I am. all my life I’ve been erasing
myself to make seats at the table
for everyone else. how can I demand
more from the world if I can’t even
ask for my name in love?
         -//-
on the train another white girl
compliments my eyelashes
& then starts plumping on mascara.
she preens & preens until they are three
times the size they once were, looks
up at me & smiles.
can’t we be pretty without being theirs?
when I start to cry she angles her body
away from me & pulls out her compact
mirror, which says conquer.
         -//-
I hate being called by my name
when I’m getting fucked.
each lover I’ve had who’s laid
it out to rot & calls themself sexy.
the carcass of my name clings
between their teeth like old
meat. it haunts the entire room
all night, keeping me
awake. no one else can smell it.
         -//-
I read about the white poet
who took a Chinese name
& can’t move for an hour.
I read about the Syrian orphans
being made every minute
& weep into the floor.
I remember walking the souks
of Aleppo at night & how everyone
smiled. how a man gifted
me a bar of soap that is still
unopened because I thought it smelled
too silky to be wasted on my skin.
I wonder where he is now.
the white women in my timeline
think I’m racist because I write
about cultural appropriation.
why can’t we have that too?
somewhere, the girl is still riding
the train, plumping her eyelashes
& peering into a mirror that tells
her to conquer. I can’t get out
of bed & my lover doesn’t understand
why. no one knows the ways
in which I am tired, my dead name
on everyone’s breath.
Credits
Fatimah Asghar

Fatimah Asghar

About “Ways I Am Tired” by Fatimah Asghar

Read the complete lyrics to "Ways I Am Tired" by Fatimah Asghar from the album "Issue Fourteen". On Lyrks you can follow along with the full text, explore the artist's discography, and discover related songs. The track is often categorized under Poetry, Non-Music.

"Ways I Am Tired" is performed by Fatimah Asghar. from the album "Issue Fourteen" This page provides the full lyric text for fans who want to sing along, study the songwriting, or compare versions across releases. Lyrks organizes lyrics by artist and song slug so you can bookmark and share a stable URL. Music lyrics help listeners connect with emotion, narrative, and rhythm in a track. Whether you are learning English, researching a favorite chorus, or preparing for karaoke, having accurate line breaks and section labels (verse, chorus, bridge) makes the experience easier. We link to the official artist profile on Lyrks where available, including biography snippets, top songs, and chart placements when we have that data. If you enjoy "Ways I Am Tired", explore more songs by Fatimah Asghar using the links below. Chart and trending pages on Lyrks highlight what listeners are searching for this week. For copyright or correction requests, see our DMCA and contact pages.

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Frequently asked questions

"Ways I Am Tired" is credited to Fatimah Asghar. Songwriting credits may include additional writers listed on the release; check the credits section on this page for linked collaborators.

"Ways I Am Tired" appears on "Issue Fourteen".

Visit the Fatimah Asghar artist page at /artist/fatimah-asghar for biography, popular tracks, and links to more lyric pages.