Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Think Like a Warrior



Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Promise me one thing. Promise that you will learn how to think like a warrior. Many people didn't succeed not because they were not smart, but they didn’t fight hard enough.

If you want anything in this life than you must think like a warrior.

You must never give up. You must be strong. But you must be willing to try and to try again even if you fail. Life is not like a science test that you only get one chance to pass or fail. School and Life are not the same.  Life is more like sports or games. You can fail but you must try again to win.

You must get ready and train. Yes, I know your family always tells you to go to school. You are already doing that. But getting ready and training is only the first part. After you train then you have to go and get your goal.

No one will give it to you on graduation day. Now after you finish training then you must go and get it. The only way that you can win on this journey of life is to think like a warrior.

Train- Go to school and the gym. The mind and body need to exercise
Make a plan- Yes, you need a plan, but luckily, you can check Google.
Make a map- Yes, write down the best way to get there
Get advice- Ask people who have done it and ask them questions
Find good back up- Support is important, so marry someone who has your back, not one who stabs you in the back
Try and Try again- Fall but get back up
Enemies- Don’t let your enemies know your weaknesses. Never let them see you sweat. Do not let them make you lose your way. Pick your battles.
Make a new map- Sometimes things happen so you must be willing to find a new way to get what you want. Do not be stubborn. Look for a new way.

Remember this and never forget the most important and most deadly enemy that you will ever have will not be someone else.

It will be you.

You will be your worst enemy. You know that voice that says that you can’t do it. That voice is the one that you must fight against. Do not lose just because you defeated yourself. At least let someone else defeat you. Don’t let it be you.

So brother and sister promise me to always think like a warrior.  

Love Always,
Sindiya  

Poet of the week (POW): Ismail A. Ali


Would you please introduce yourself to the readers?

i am Ismail , human , citizen of the world and somali ! . Professionally a doc . I don't remember my last address and the place I was born at doesn't remember me as I was a wondering stranger for ages now lol

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

nothing in particular ! I just saw myself writing some stuff that most of the time doesn't make sense lol . we all have ideas to write . Sometimes we chain it to paper and sometimes it evaporates into the wide universe !


What does "being creative" mean to you?

being creative is believing u r sane when other don't .believing that u r capable when others don't . Ability to see the beauty of things and the opportunity behind hardships. But hey it is ok if we don't feel creative sometimes in a capitalist world selling us phony dreams and redefining our values in a ridiculous way ! . If u feel creative all the time u r an alien looool


What do you try to communicate with your poetry?
myself , community and believes !


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?

i just write when I feel like it . I am just an amateur , no publishers , no deadline and paycheck lool but the sea is my sanctuary !

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

just let it flow and let those ideas and words take me ! But of course I read it again to make sure I didn't go wild lool 


Who are some of your favorite poets?

ahamd matar , mahmoud darwiish ,al baarodi , hafiz ibrahim , pablo nureda ,langston hughes , billy collins and many others  


What advice do you have for aspiring poets? Any word of advice for closet poets?

 I am not good in giving advice so I just say "WRITE ANYTHING" I hope one day our country will enjoy peace and we all live. There !


Anything else you would like to share?

most of the the TNP participates are wonderful and I like them 

Upon the ashes of Babylon



She knew magic
as magicians knew the burning fire

the unarmed soldiersings the words of freedom

ادْخُلُوهَا بِسَلَامٍ ۖ ذَٰلِكَ يَوْمُ الْخُلُودِ ﴿٣٤﴾ لَهُم مَّا يَشَاءُونَ فِيهَا وَلَدَيْنَا مَزِيدٌ ﴿٣٥﴾

sometimes she had to choose between
which child she had to feed
which child she had to clothe
and which one she had to let go

they say poor people
have poor dreams
unknowingly she was collecting gold
while her right hand was the only
one for her child to hold 
she dreamed under the heat of the sun
and fought under the moon
which reminded her of beauty

she had— family members dying besides her
she had— loud screams at earembracing the welcoming of the angel of death
she said the screams
was a sign of life
it was the sight of dead bodies
which made her heart scatter into pieces 
she wonders if her husband is still alive
while feeling pity for the woman
who reads the stars
claiming her life is at stake
she wonders if her children
could ever experience a day
of comfortwhile feeling pity for the man
who bows down to the fallen angel

when the moon covers up
the sunshe falls into prostration--feeling peace.


Amina Cilmi Shabeel
Copyright © 2013

Monday, February 18, 2013

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.

Thoughts of the Wife to Be

As I have this intimate intercouse with the pen
The page gets stained as my thoughts is filled
with her face n ever so quickly the pace of my breath begins to race.

I stop for a minute
&
I think about her if she is thinking about me
I thinking about her like the keys think about unlocking the locks
Thinking about her like arms think about folding
Thinking about her like hands think about holding
Thinking about her like............

Brains think about thinking.


Its quiet evident she drives me cracy
but then again she makes me sane.
Some people wonder with my furious jelousy
but if only they knew wat i know.
The night gets jelous of the day
for the light of the day brightens her gourgeus face
and the day gets jelous of the night
for in the depth of the dark the night rocks her to sleep
and gives her beatifull dreams.

Thoughts of the wife to be mingling with in me so deep
Thinking about her like cripples think about standing
Am thinking about right now to stand up and go find her
look deep in her eyes and tell her "you are the extension of my mind"
and watch her smile, reveal those bright white teeth n give her quick kiss on her for head.


She has no clue of the truth
She has no idea of the reality
She dosent have the slightest idea
The truth of how beatiful she is
The reality of how she defines beauty
The sligtest idea of how unique she is.


She opens the gates behind where my words hide
Like a flood over taking the land, tongue begins to vibrate
Begins to engulf her with praise.
How could she be replaced??
Like a mustard seed with in me she was placed
Her voice watered seed and this is how i begun to feel.

She is the green garden of life with in me
She is the world i Live in, for in her eyes i see the world
&
When my eyes gaze at the world i see her every where and in every one
She is the question of my life, asking me what makes me complete and simultaneosly
She is the answer with in the question for she makes me whole.

She makes the best of them All look bad
She makes the beauty its self envy her
She makes me meditate n the earth quakes when i am IN HER.........presence

As I write these
Thoughts of the wife to be sweep with in me
The spread of her cheeks
The facianting dimples

She makes the time on my watch worth while
For there is no time where by she is not in my mind
If the 7 billion lives under the 7 skies were to get together
&
and they tried to find as to the reason why thoughts of she are constnalty with in me
The answer would be.........She is.......my souls bliss the exact version of me encarved by Allah as a female
she is the wife to be..the other half my deen


Wardi Ibn AbdulWahab
Copyright © 2013

Monday, February 11, 2013

Desert Soul


Empty like clear glass,
trying to remember you
I wish I had the courage to hold on,
wishing those feelings would last,
but I feel sad that your end 
your feelings were the past,
so what I'm I gripping on to,
a walking desert soul
 with bitter tears to feed too.

I felt that you loved me,
but i know you buried that 
deep in a hole within you,
denying your true feelings 
and how i mean to you,
soon would my love die too?
I pray that it does,

I hope your wounds get healed,
and that the love we had is concealed,
we peeled at each others desert soul,
and let a flower group and grow
and our soul grew,
i want to truly feel the saying 
"Let Go,Let God"
over the horizon blue sky,
tears of a grey cloud,
the Lord works in miraculous ways,
I know you whispered you loved me. 

and I know it hurts you cant have me
and I cant have you
so my tears go in the palm of my hands
that's where my love would go
crying please Lord heal this broken heart.
help me to forget, help me to let go.


Idil Ahmed Mahamed
Copyright © 2013

Poet of the week (POW): Famo Ahmed


Would you please introduce yourself to the readers?

Hi everyone, My name is Fadumo a.k.a Famo Ahmed. I am a Doctor currently doing postgraduate training in Pediatrics  and I scribble a little occasionally :)

When did you first start writing poetry and was there any particular incidents in your life that inspired you to write?
I started when I was around 12, and it all started as a form of outlet after losing my father to Cancer. 

What does "being creative" mean to you?
Being creative means innovating new perspectives, new thoughts, new attitude to life based on 
one's environment and past experiences. It means looking for inspiration in the most mundane places.

What do you try to communicate with your poetry?
I try to portray an image of whatever topic I pick at that moment. And my poetry is just like a short story that rhymes. So I use the words as a canvas to paint a picture for the reader, and a lot of the time am not at that location and it is just an image  in my own head. The tricky part is using words that rhyme or have a sequence while doing so. The subjects of my poems usually is about back home, 
the youth and their tribulations, and self reflection.

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?
I drive my inspiration from current events, or whatever I see in my surroundings if it moves me. So when I do go into a phase of not writing anything for a while its not because of lack of inspiration but availability of time. And so I write when am just sitting somewhere with nothing to do, absurdly enough boredom seems to be when am most creative :)

Do you sit and think through every word of every stanza or do you just write freely and allow the words to flow?
 No. I don't remember ever sitting down somewhere to ponder on a topic and then write something about it in a 
calculated manner. Anytime I write something, it starts as a general idea in my head, and I just scribble right there and then orienting the words the way I want the poem to look, with no further revision of that poem. It is not work, it is just putting down the thoughts as they flow into my mind and onto the paper. 

Who are some of your favorite poets?
I have to say it is Hadraawi, a poet whose works propelled me to learn the Somali language in great depth 
in order to enjoy the liberty of understanding his great works. 

What advice do you have for aspiring poets? Any word of advice for closet poets?
Don't hold back would be my advice. The talent of being able to describe something in a lyrical manner like poetry is an art as old as man himself, so if you do realize at any point in your life that you have been bestowed such a gift,  don't take it for granted.

Anything else you would like to share?
Is it me just me or do banana's go great with everything. Just kidding. Thank you for including me in this thoughtful project, and I look forward to your feedback. 

Friday, February 8, 2013

Keep Black


Incense burned, hair curled, wind and clothes dancing aeronautics,
I am flying with pride, my feet barely touching the earth.
In my own little world, humming and singing and breathing and so very super in my being
My world of incense filled cape dancing halted, interrupted:

''errmmm soo yea what race is somalians anyways?''

Bitch you festering open wound on the most brain dead vermin/
you should never have been permitted to breathe in my presence let alone to speak
Can you not see the Land of Punt etched so deeply on my face?
Do you not notice African royalty in every line and every curve?
Are you so blind you cannot comprehend that your limited understanding of yourself is not my problem?

I am beyond you.

Keep 'black' if it makes you feel worthy you sit-com of the devils humour/
pirate jokes do not faze me/
unlike you I existed before/
There was something before you saw swollen bellies and thought it a joke that millions may starve/
You said they cannot afford to vomit and that to you was funny
but you wouldn't even be fit to drink the bile from any of my warriors in refugee camps starving/

so keep 'Black' if it means that hunger is amusing/
I am too superior in my being/
Keep 'black' if there is a box you need everyone to fit neatly into for your unicellular brain to organise and understand/ You lack nuclei or substance/
Your unworthyness is astounding/
You gut full of wasted semen I wish we could start again with you/
Some poor woman had to lend her body to bring passage to you/
For what?

This society so broken can never be mended with mind-boggling ignorance still festive and thriving/
Like air-born-word-evolved herpes, your stupidity we are infected with/
You are a walking apology/
Why is your world not sorry?
If I cared enough to clean out some of your bacteria, I would sit you down and teach you/
Force you to confront the sum of my nose, cheek bones, forehead all angles, all belonging to the same corner before
So very long before/
But I fear it is fruitless to ply you with the gift of knowledge when it's 'likes' on facebook your life goals are centred on/

I am even sorry I have spent so long on you/
My cape dance you will no longer interrupt with your poor excuse for jokes/
of famine and hunger and pirates and boats/
The same road I took to get here I can always take back/
But you're forever stuck in the maladorousness of your being/
Please, you festering open wound on the most brain dead vermin/
Keep 'Black' if it makes your world easier to live in.


Nimo Hussein
Copyright © 2013

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

My Deepest Thoughts


State of the majority of the mass public around the globe
is such that; fancy cloths are covering the bodies
which store empty souls.
In the prison of greed the minds have been closed
behind the bars of materialism

I sit back and look around me,
cant help but to notice the daily occurance of homicide;
the murder of intelligence through the massacare
and assasination of those who act as catalyst for critical thinking
such as Malik Haji el-shabaz and Mahatma Ghandi.
The fire of hollywood burning up the forest of intellectuality.
I breath the air of an era in which I am witnessing the extinction of free thinkers. 

The people dont seem mind
the destruction of the nature 
this becouse the minds of the people
have been destroyed.
The water is contaminated by fluorine 
Traces of barium got the air we breath spoiled
Sadness and fear has made the hearts void. 
the truth is what the people avoid 

In the depth of the night, some times i ask my self
how can i sleep in peace while at the same instant
in a different land there is a father who is wathcing his son die
becouse for so many week the child did not eat.
How can i sleep while at the same time in a different land
there is a mother who cries becouse she is watching her daughter bleed. 

My thoughts run deep like a mystique sea. 
with the eyes of my mind i explore the world
from all angles and i observe that the
nations are crippled with broken ankles
Nations have become weak becouse the good
in them has been strangled. 

The teenagers & children worrying
about the matters of Adult hood
The adults cearless about the matters of life
such us building up a morally fit society
hence the children have become irresponsible semi-adults
while the adults have become meek & afraid as if they were children. 

The story of yesterday has been forgotten
becouse the symbol of freedom in todays world
is America yet the white house was built by black slaves. 
The history of yesterday has been erased
becouse the symbol of supreme civilasation and inventions
in todays world is Europe yet homosexuality was first found in greece
women were burnt as witches in England and the vikings of scandinavia 
were drinking human blood in human skulls. 

The story of today is confusing
for been poor is a crime. Walkin
almost naked in public is what women take in pride
All the world leaders are deceptive and full of lies
all the gold is in Africa yet Africa is the poores continent.
The story of today is confusing for if u are good
people see u as eveil and if u are evil people see u as good
The story of today is confusing for some leave on the streets
while some live in houses with ten rooms. Some eat the skin of rats
while others throw food away. 

What can I say about the future ofpeople who 
have forgotten their past and their present is confused??

I can only quote the words of Allah azza wajjal "BY TIME. VERILY MANKIND IS IN A LOSS"

My only question which remains is
how many people think like this?
I recall the quote "dont worry about 
what people think of you for not many even think"

Its sad to see that humanity
comes together only in teh time of calamity
Its even more sad to see the nation of Muhammad 
(peace and the salutations of Allah be upon him)
have abandoned their duty, thrown away their honour &
have decided to stop thinking hence they have broken their connection 
with Allah azza wajjal. 

So who am i to tell u this?? 
Am just some one who
the devil is tryna put on crucifixion 
Am just some1 who bow downs to Allah azza wajjal
so i brake through time and space and am not held 
by man made restrictions.
Am the one who sees death 
reality and life as fiction.
Am the one who aims for paradise 
so i settle for nothing less than distinction. 
If they as u who am i and they ask for my description 
Tell them I am dark skinned Muslim whos from the continent of the Egyptians. 

Wake up and free your mind from mental slavery
liberate your soul from desires.
Change the world by changing your self
and helping the other to change.

Wardi Ibn AbdulWahab
Copyright © 2013

Strong like Somalia -- Poet of the Week -- Sindiya Darman


They said that we are fallen and that our legs will never stand
A handicap nation that became beggars
A misfortunate story to tell the other nations
Be good or you will be like Somalia
Never be like Somalia

For years even we believed the bedtime story of a nation that can’t get up
We should hold our heads down and apply for new citizenship
Have children with other nations because we do not have one
Somalia would become like Atlantis
Another civilization that has disappeared so that only historians remember their language
Never be like Somalia

Yet, we are not like other people
We are used to hardship and tragedies
Of near death and recovery
We have faith in Allah that death is not for us to choose
So the death of a nation is the will of Allah and not some news reporter to say
We have real faith that never breaks and it is as strong as diamonds
Strong like Somalia

We are nation of poets that is true
But we are also a nation of warriors
Warriors do not give up
Warriors go into battle with no fear and faith as a shield
Today the world has seen Somalia the fallen warrior to spit blood on the floor
Wipe her tears and rise again with shaking legs
Rise and hear a million voices cheering her on

She grins and waves the blue flag
Everyone screams Alhamdulillah
Strong like Somalia
Be like Somalia
Fall but always get up  

Sindiya Darman
Copyright © 2013