Would you please introduce yourself to the readers?
Hi , erm my name is Hyder. No really it is Hyder NOOR HYDER. Its an original Somali name, it means a lion's cub. My dad believes in conserving the Somali names heritage, we shouldn't all be arabized, I quote!!!
When did you first start writing poetry and was there any particular incidents in your life that inspired you to write?
I started reading poems when I was young. Wow I read a LOT! When kids my age were chasing skirts I was chasing me some books at the library. I got to admit what influenced me to write poetry was the author Robert Frost 'The hopeless romantic'. You will notice the tragedies in my poems sometimes all stem from his influx! Edgar allen Poe and Walt Whitman also influenced me. The first time I read 'The ballad of reading gaol' by Oscar Wilde I was sure that poems were a means for my unsocial behavior to change its course of history on paper. That poem has BLOOWN ME AWAY "Yet each man kills the thing he loves,/By each let this be heard,/Some do it with a bitter look,/Some with a flattering word,/The coward does it with a kiss,/The brave man with a swordHeavy words"
What does "being creative" mean to you?
I believe being creative means switching your phone off, going out of the house and really look at the world our Lord Allah has built and maintained. Observe the fresh air, the dazzling sun , our natural surrounding! Every sunday I had a tradition of sitting alone in Trafalgar Square with a good book and watching people pass me by, this helped me get creative. The problem with our society nowadays, is we don't appreciate THE FRIGGING WORLD!!
What do you try to communicate with your poetry?
I communicate with myself in my poetries , its like an autobiography, my facebook is my diary per se. I write for me and no one else. Critiquing is for the narrow minded people not getting the point that maybe some things were written for them to judge. My dark beautiful fantasies belong on paper and sometimes people can come and share them. I don't really care to be honest.
Who are some of your favorite poets?
My favourite poet Robert frost FULL STOP. He's the man!!!
What does writing poetry do for you?
Writing poetry makes me feel solely alone in the universe just my pen and I on a intergalactic stellar flight through space and time continuum writing fantastic words free flowing from my lips directly blown on paper
Anything else you would like to share?
I would like to tell my fellow somali poets, ask not what your adopted country can do for you, ask what your natural country can do for you. Or else just tick the other option on the ethnicity survey they give on aeroplanes nowadays like i do.
