‘The Vocabulary of Neglect’ by Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan

This poem by writer and poet Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan comes out of a creative collaboration at the second Doctors within Borders workshop (Paradoxes of Healthcare Entitlements in the Covid-19 Pandemic: Crisis Response and Hostile Environments), which was held online in June 2021.

Suhaiymah joined the event, and listened with her critical and creative ear to the research presented and to the discussion of the many paradoxes of entitlement to healthcare that affected marginalised and mobile populations during the early stages of the Covid pandemic.

Suhaiymah’s interpretation of these discussions and her response, in the language of poetry, is astonishing and moving. The poem ‘The Vocabulary of Neglect’ concisely reflects and responds to the most salient issues arising in the workshop, and in a uniquely powerful way.

Find out more about the workshop.

Find out more about Suhaiymah and her work on her website and on twitter.

Watch a shorter clip of the poem (which has been watched thousands of times on twitter).