Poet of the week (POW): Idil Ahmed Mahamed

Would you please introduce yourself to the readers?

Well hello there folks, I'm Idil Ahmed Mahamed

I'm one of the few poets who shared their poem's in the beginning and helped out Halima


When did you first start writing poetry and was there any particular incidents in your life that inspired you to write?

It was recently that I found a report on my self when I was 7 years of age, and the teacher explained to my mother that I was an imaginative girl, and that I loved looking into ancient history, made me smile because I was always like this, I've had the love and passion for putting my experience, my imagination and what I've learnt onto paper.

then when I was about 11-12 years of age, I wanted to put my emotions somewhere, I was deeply sadden to certain unfortunate events during my life, and when my Uncle died it was just a huge stamp on my life and mother, and I tired to put my imagination onto paper and tried to put closure for myself and wrote it down that I got to say good bye properly.

Later when I felt I got a tad better with my poetry, I had a tutor who was quite strict and who wished the best for me and my sisters, I was depressed with life, I couldn't focus with high school, although I could do it, but I had no mentor no one in my life to warn me of the consequences of my future. I was pretty much not confident about myself when it came to education and what I wanted to be and to reveal my passion and dreams. He kept bugging me about reading more, until one day he set me up some homework with a title and
with that title I had to write a poem, when he eventually read it he was very surprised that I wrote it and that was my first compliment I ever got and that just push me even more into embracing poetry, I never had the chance to tell him that I wanted to be a poet/writer but I'm in this stage in my life wheres I believe I can be anything now and when I do achieve to be anything. I'll send him a gold watch well that's what he asked for me to give him if I made it big.

And last but not least my cousin Abdilahi Ahmed, who encouraged me and stroked my ego here and there who has his own page called KOW media so like the page, yes I am involving some advertisement, so check it out people.

What does "being creative" mean to you?

I think its cool, a beautiful gift to have. I may not be a genius when it comes to maths nor I'm I a scientist, but I'm good with words.

What do you try to communicate with your poetry?

Its mostly being creative, sometimes I could be angry at myself with life I use all that pain and sadness and write a heart breaking poem or rant, but with my poems I use it to connect with people with everything, something they can relate to. the most is when I'm thinking out of the box from the note book to girl interrupted. what do you do when you go into a dry spell of some sort or how do you write another piece when you have been away from it for some time? Erm I have no problem there.

Do you sit and think through every word of every stanza or do you just write freely and allow the words to flow?

I free style...Holla and I also sing it out. :D
Who are some of your favorite poets?

Mine is mostly Nas the rapper/poet.

Gaariye i liked him because he was thinking out of the box, may Allaah have mercy on his soul.

Tupac rapper/poet -RIP

and my Grand father he was a poet to, I like to say I got the creative side from him, may Allaah have mercy on his soul.

who are your favorite Somalia's nations poets?

I don't have a fav poet on the somalia's nations poets page..cos well I see you all as competition duh *coughs coughs* like I wrote a poem about this issue long ago I let my emotions out, I made it very clear (poem called "Dear Ismail, Pen 'n'paper and Hamza".) ( I joke I Joke)
What advice do you have for aspiring poets? Any word of advice for closet poets?

follow your passion, if its little or big, because that would be your drive to live in this world, that joy that would make you smile.

Anything else you would like to share?

I'll like to say Thank you for Halima to have the courage to make this group page and all the other pages, and to to bring us all together and to share our thoughts our sorrow's all on the Somalia Nation Poets Group Page.

the way our older generation would gather around to share their poetry, we found another way to speak up since we've been separated since the war, its nice to see our culture is still rooted within us no matter where we are, if our land has been turned to dust our poetry speaks out as an supplication we didn't notice that truly lights up.