Monday, June 22, 2009

War


Editor's note: It's just one of those humane feelings of not appreciating what you have until its no longer there. War is never the answer to any conflict, and the loss greatly outweighs the gains!


We take peace for granted

Its true value a mystery

Until it's gone,

Taken by the cold grips of War,

War comes and goes like the waves of the ocean

It brings no warning

And requires a payment fee,

The lives of many

War taints its color red

To make its presence known

It drinks up your hope

And fills it with grief

Like it can come, war can take leave

But to achieve that

Takes strength and unity

Halima Elmi

Copyright ©2009

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Striving for peace




Rains falling from the sky
washing away the dirt
on the surface of the world
but not yet washing the dirt
in the human heart.
When will strong downpour of rain
come and clean those evils
from the depth of the earth.

Rain pouring from the sky
washing away the dirt yet
Hard to cleanse the most dangerouse
dirt that lurks in the human heart.
When will the big rain come?
When will this world be in peace forever?
Fatima Ahmed
Copyright ©2009

The four W's





Editor's note: Although short this poem is profoundly deep.


Where there is a way.
There is a walk.
Where there is a walk.
There is a world.
Where there is a world.

There is a war.
Fatima Ahmed
Copyright ©2009

A note of appreciation for my father <3


Can I ever thank you enough for being the wonderful man you are?
Abo, thank you for your patience,
For your unconditional love,
For the warmth in your hug,
Thank you for your encouragement,
For your heart and ability to forgive my mistake,
Abo, my life is just as incomplete as the land is without the rain,
It is as if there is a constant reminder of something precious missing,
Like the feeling of inadequateness,
Or the loss of someone dear,
Abo, my love for you will never cease to exist,
Waan ku jeclahey
Appki yaad dil ko rulati hai,
Aur kitna saal yeh khamooshi rahe gaye?
How long will the lines of anger, misunderstandings, and disappointments last?
Kitna paas bhi app kitne door ho abo macaan?
I’m sorry for all the pain that I have caused your heart,
One should be truly honored to have a father like you,
As days go by I understand the value of relationships,
The value of my father can never be measured,
Thank you for being my father,
For being the incredibly intelligent man that you are,
For being so compassionate,
for your passionate love for your religion, people, family and education,
I pray that in the hereafter we can share sit together and chit chat,
And thank you, even in absence, for being the biggest influence in my life.
Abo you're the best force in my life and I love you from the bottom of my lungs (:
With love and respect,
Your little girl,
Halima Ali Ahmed
Copyright ©2009

My Tongue

You are a good writer
My lovable English teacher always praised,
I am good English writer.
My so enviable proud self always raised.
Then English Amplified path to success
Like old voyage I sailed with no transgress
In my world English personified intelligence
In English we debated, deliberated, delegated
Claimed custodian of culture & science
It had no other to be equated


Now I reflect, and it makes no sense
and neither do I feel sophisticated
Perhaps deceived with diligence
who to blame always be disputed
For my mother tongue, a thought in absence
My language, abated, castigated, relegated
By never ending ignorance, ever evolving violence
The beauty in my language was never elevated
buried with rich history, a forgotten oral brilliance
Its demotion to coffee shop chatters understated


No time left for patience
For long English I propagated
honored it in its presence
While my essence decimated
Not so long ago with arrogance
English said I was uncivilized and to be educated
Well, now I am educated, with confidence
Declare my colonized mind, officially liberated

Warsame Dirie
Copyright ©2009

Crush




Editor's note: This is a cute about a very humane feeling, most if not all, of us have experience.
I don't know where to begin this
though a risk, I will share this piece
means a lot to me so please don't dismiss
probably u r reading these
I am hoping it will put u at peace.

The news flash in this;
I wanna make u my Mrs.
trust me, I am not making up this,
so let me make my please, please.

your words put my mind at ease,
Ur presence is a tease,
whilst your absence is a disease.
You know am never like this,
I know it looks like a squeeze,
So odd, feel like even the trees.
are defying the breeze.

Don't panic am appease.
Can't wait the day we kiss
the day I go to my knees,
then, take pics and say 'cheese'
then travel to the great cities
and the high seas.

Well, I like my fantasies,
they fly like the wild bees.
Haven't even told you any of this
and am already passing you my life keys
So till the day, my ego i seize
let it stay a Crush,
though, I feel like signing the lease.

Warsame Dirie

Copyright ©2009

Thursday, June 18, 2009



Beep.Vibrate.Beep.Vibrate.

With a reluctant mind, I answer the daily routine call.

“Hello dear, get up it’s time”

How come across oceans you never fail to make this call?

Same words exchanged at every dusk, the voice gets sweeter by the years

Get up,

Do wudu,

Pray,

Go to school,

Read verses from the Quran on your way there,

Keep hold of your tongue,

Keep your heart conscious of Allah swt,

“Dear, are you there”

Hmm, with a sleepy mind I mumble.

Dear, it’s time to pray!

Time for Fajr,

I hear the women scream in the market place,

I hear laughter of the children,

The almost incomprehensible concern of your mother,

I hear her say “why call the land of infidels”

The land where you have no one,

You say mama it’s a call for fajr,

Time to remind for fajr salah,

My sister over here, annoyed with the phone,Who inevitably calls at dusk?

He says “dear, my duty is accomplished”
Halima Ahmed
Copyright ©2009

Somalia



Editor's note: This poem beautifully summarize how most of the youth feel about Somalia. "I wish one day Somali can have peace and harmony"


Somalia
Home of the brave is what I believe
Many obstacles in our way make it hard to achieve
Trying to get peace, place our life on the line
In the end of the day are we wasting our time
All the people want is Somalia to prosper
Haters say our country is inhospitable
I say it’s dang incredible
All that it’s wanting, all that it’s needs
Are leaders who are not deceiving
Choosing peoples’ lives over money
I wish one day Somali can have peace and harmony
When will the people come to consensus
Turmoil repeats its self like chorus verses
People crying for hope, desperate for change, yet full of despair
Wanting their country to repair
When that day happens our country will be
One of the greatest the world ever did see

Shamsi Sheikhuna

Copyright ©2009

Piracy

Editor's note: The issue of piracy has recently caused a lot of attention in the media, however, this is not something new that just happened overnight. We deplore any act of killing and stealing from the innocent, but what is really unfair is how the media presented this issue partial! The lives of Somalis lost were literally disregarded, and the fact that these pirates to many Somalis are protecting our shores from illegal activities that have been going on there for the past 15 or so years. Just because Somalia lacks a functioning government, does not make it right for countries to dump their toxic waste there so graciously!


Ocean is so huge my soul mount to nothing

ocean throwing me left and right, like helpless leaves in windy day but soon

I know this ocean will rest and I will see the sun set clear.

hungry and lost I am, but not pirate and thief I am.

toxic waste everywhere in my ocean and land,

and it runs in my veins todayyou want me to be silent while I get robbed

and poisoned and the "world" want to watch and laugh

for 18 years we have been killing each other and nobody blinked an eye

for view ships the world know now where Somalia is at the map

call me pirate but I wont watch while my legs crossed

test me and you won’t like my respond

hey world you not fair, for money you are slave

I guess money make the world turn

i was taught money don’t buy and do everything

but for everything there is consequences
you steal the smile out of our children’s faces,and replace it with tears and pain

World, I don’t care if you care, but don’t pollute our water and land

Warlords, thanks for opening the doors for every heartless waste management in this world
therefore expect me to report on duty as a pirate.

Farooq A

Copyright ©2009


Editor's note: Just a reminder. This poem speaks for itself!



I'm writing this to remind the people
of all the things Allah
has given them so that they might thank him,
and that there are troubled people allaround the world,
take SOMALIA for example.
Somalia is our country, and it’s also one of many Islamic countries.
It is being destroyed by tribes, anger and all sorts of armies
Do we not wish for peace,Why can't we putt tribe aside and take it with ease.
Mothers and babies dying, and what are the reasons?
Is it because of the tribes, revenge or is it simply Somalia’s killings seasons?
It is very confusing; they think that fighting is going to solve everything,
But Allah (SWT) does not like those who start fights and wars, so it solves nothing.
Why can we not come together as muslimeen,
Those who fear Allah and fulfill their deen.
Allah is the cure,
Allah is the Key to peace and success,
We have to put our trust in Allah and make him our one and only address.
Fardowsa Cadaawe
Copyright ©2009

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Just a reminder for the Somali (Muslim) Youth


Editor's note: This poem serves as a reminder for our youth!I hope our hearts are always conscious of Allah swt and may he make us among the ummah of prophet Mohamed PBUH, and among the ones whom Allah swt is pleased with in the day of judgment!


Allah has send us prophets to get one simple message across,
which was simply to follow ALLAH's deen,
Placed two angels on our shoulders, to record what we do who are called kiramin katibeen.

He send us the quran to follow,
to show us happiness in life and not to be sorrow.
It will help us in meeting tomorrow.

He showed us the way in life,
its up to us whether we want to strive.
Some might think that having fun in this dunya,
is all that matters,
Looking up to, R&B singers,Gangsta's and actors.

Don't we know what is waiting for us in the hereafter?
And its that which matters, not this temporary dunya full of sin.
which allaah tested us within.

Life is a test,sometimes we find happiness, sometimes we are sad,
but that doesn't mean life is bad.
We have to struggle for what we want,when we fall we have to be able to stand.Death will reach you unplanned.

Brothers and sisters until you are alive, you still got the
chance to change your life,

If your a man get yourself a wife, instead of wasting your time in the hood,thinking its all good.
Sisters, Don't let shaitaan tell you what to do, you can simply burn it with the water of your wudu.


Remember ALLAH where ever you are,
In the sky, water, ground near or far.
He is the one we are returning to,
We are muslims me and You.

Let's behave like MUSLIMS, LIVE TOGETHER, GET THROUH IT TOGETHER no matter the weather.
Win from shaitaan,
who wishes to take us with him in hell fire
but he knows that ALLAH is the ONE who we desire.
Fardowsa Cadaawe
Copyright ©2009

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Once



He isn't the man I once knew, full of ambition and life. Disregarding the harshness of his condition like a man lost in a cold desert and the only way is to move forward. He always lived for the moment despite his sad upbringing of hopelessness. He was once full of happiness, good stories and poems. He is my father the man I am reminded of every time I look in the mirror. Time has done it's work, filling his world with pain, loss and agony.. His once beautiful smile ripped from his face only to be replaced by sadness, his radiant personality gone. He works to stay afloat in this sea of the hopelessly hopeful. Memories of his youth gone like the seconds that pass. One second: stories of triumph gone. Two seconds: hope gone. Three seconds: dreams of going back gone. My father was full of ambition, disregarding the harshness of his condition like a man lost in a cold desert.

Abdikalik Dini
Copyright ©2009

Let us



Let us paint the stars, the planets and the galaxies and lie under them forgetting how little we are.
Let us walk under the October moon with its glistening light and forget our troubles.
Let us live under the blazing sun and bask in its glory.
Let us lie under an oak tree's shade on a hot summer day.
Let us spend every waking minute and every dying second together.
Let us sit at dinner and talk endlessly about life's wonders like two children with new play toys.
Let us be true to each other like a math equation, because
one plus one will always equal two except on sick days then it's one and half.
Let us be one in two different bodies.
Let us love.

Abdikalik Dini
Copyright ©2009

For my sisters of other faiths


You see me as a one, who is trapped in darkness,
One who is held back in time,
One who is subjected to the ruling of men,
One who is a follower of a faith that oppresses her,
One who is veiled,
One who is tortured and disrespected all under the acceptance of her religion.
You see me as the illiterate woman who cannot know
Right from wrong
Left from right
Darkness from light
Happiness from sorrow!
you think my sense of dressing as a sign of obedience to men, out of fear for men
But do you know my hijab symbolizes my sincerity to my faith?
My love for my creator
My respect for the Mothers of the believers
The respect for my body
My need to be independent
My desire to be recognizes as a woman of intellect
Why did most of the respectable women in history cover?
Virgin Mary!
Mother Therese?
Play boy women seldom make history!
I am independent!
Islam is not a religion that traps or enslaves me but rather a religion that liberates me
Makes others view me as a woman and respect me.
Indeed, the status of women in Islam can never ever be equal to that of the western perception
The first person who accepted Islam was a woman
And the first martyr of Islam was a woman!
The Prophet peace be upon him said “paradise lies under the feet of your mother”
How can you possibly say Islam oppresses me?
Tortures me?
Abuses me?
Don’t you see sister for interviews you wear clothes that reveal your body, in order to be selected.
You sell your dignity in order to please the men,
Your self-esteem depends on the men who praise you, the more you show, the more you are showered with praises.
You are dependent on men!
You waste your soul and beauty,
You sell your dignity and respect,
You’re fooling yourself,
And you think I am slave to men?
If your definition of freedom is pleasing men and enslavement defines respecting oneself, then I chose the latter with pride!
Halima Ahmed
Copyright ©2009

Sunday, June 7, 2009

The land of failed political bets


Editor's Note: Somali Poets welcomes poems by Somalis for Somalia! This poem vividly paints a picture of how Somalis live!The Young poet who wrote this it is Sara Abdi, a University Student residing in America.
Somalia.

The land of Poets.

A place where the camel procession passes by led by a young man and young girls sitting by the deck plait each other's hair.

The land when where the sun sets and people gather around to listen to folktales passed down generations, the familiar stories of Deghdeer and the jilted lover Elmi Bodheri excite us just as when we heard them first.

This was a land which the Ancient Egyptians once called God's Country.

The land of Myrrh and Frankincense.

The land that has gone through trials and tribulations, a people so divided and disenfranchised that any glimmer of hope, that a politcial figure might bring them have dimmed.

A people that have learned to give in and be taken hostage by men with Klashinikovs.

A place that was once an ancient trading center, is now a roadmap to despair.
Sara Abdi
Copyright ©2009

Without You


This poem is dedicated to the Osman Sisters(Hoyo Hodan, Hoyo Hawa, and Hoyo Amina Osman) for being the wonderful and strong women they are.

Without you, I wouldn’t be what I am

Without you, I wouldn’t survive all the obstacles that I have been through.

Without you, I wouldn’t be writing this.

Without you, I wouldn’t return alive from the war.

Without you, I would’ve been just another orphan, lonely and helpless.

Without you, I would be unprotected from all the harm that came my way.

Without you, I would have shattered into a million pieces.

Without you, I doubt, if I could make it this far….

With you, it was always safe

With you, it’s always been like heaven and you are my angel.

I always knew deep inside that almost nothing could ever upset me in your presence.

You were my comfort, hope and everything.

You were there for me, when no one else was.

Without you, I was nothing.

With you, I was complete.

Hoyo* is a somali word for mom*
Copyright ©2006
Halima Ahmed

Somalia-My Homeland!


Oh, Somalis!
How long will you exploit, mistreat and abuse my land?
How long will you fight and decorate my earth with the blood of my people!
Will I ever become unaccustomed to the echoes and the unpleasant sounds of guns?
Would I ever see a brighter a day, a day, where Somalis can ever come together and embrace one another!
Will there ever be a leader like Aden Abdulle Osman, the first president?
Do you ever hear the plea of this land? Do you ever feel the plight of my children!
Where are your conscience Somalis?
My 49th Independence Day is approaching, what is going to be my ceremony!
Yet, another Somali killed because of tribe?
Yet, another mother desperate and praying for a way out!
Yet another child dying of hunger and thrist?
Where are the days where Independence day was embraced with celebration!
Songs, dances, feast and happy Somalis?
Somalis who would wave the flag up high!
Somalis who would pride themselves for being Somalis, rather than darood, abgaal mise isaaq?
Somalis who would respect and adhere to the Quran and following the teachings of Mohammed PBUH!
Somalis in the west celebrate this day in lavish venues, with music, and halib iyo bariis, obvious to the fact that the ones back home are still in a state of chaos, hungry and absolute poverty?
Somalis, when would you realize the fact that you have preyed on my land like vultures for so long!
Failed it.
Disappointed it!
Abused it.
Exploited it!
Copyright ©2009

Written by: Halima Ahmed

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Praying for the betterment of Somalia




So long, yet so little has changed! ! ! Is Somalia destined to be the way it’s? Media shows it as a failed state… Doesn’t that hurt or disturb the peace of your heart? Would we want our homes and families to be labeled as a “failure? ” When will we see Somalia as a country, and stop making it a tribal nation? We continue to be the nightmares of innocent mothers…don’t they deserve a peaceful home? We continue to deprive young children of their rights…aren’t they entitled to a better life in their own homeland? We continue to kill our neighbors and brothers and sisters… doesn’t Islam teach respecting the lives of humans? We continue to look elsewhere for shelter and better life….why are we making yourselves orphans intentionally? ? Warlords…why do they still have the ability to make us their slaves and use us for their benefits? ? ?
Copyright ©2008
Halima Ahmed