Look At

Look at his wrist
No watch still you can tell the time
Look at the mist
No hatch still I call the future mine

It wouldn’t do you harm
If you knew the rules, it’s a place of charm

Wait
Let me tell you to this very date
People die
Nothing civil about our war, we stopped asking why
Now
Holding AKs, we used to put our hands to the plough
Don’t judge
You don’t understand our situation very much
Hate?
Love is the cure, they say better late
Than never
I stay loyal, does it make you feel any better
World beyond
We try to understand but we don’t comprehend
At last
I understand the future led by the past
Together
With the present, it mould me forever
Imagine
Leaving the care provided by your suburb mansion
Come
To the city of pain, education makes you feel numb
Function
The moment you think, you face destruction
Chad
Provided by the artificial limb who cut
His leg
When a silent grenade chopped, putting him to bed
Macabre?
Is not the only picture, don’t make me take it further
Pain
Children who wait for water in vain
Plain
Haem dries on the walls, bone marrow shapes the terrain
Wisdom
Surrounded by a desert but the mind comes to blossom
Nomad life
Story tellers, ancestors who left an imprint to survive
Indian Ocean
Washes away the stain, blood, sweat and tears of my nation

It wouldn’t do you harm
If you knew the rules, it’s a place of charm

Look at his wrist
No watch still you can tell the time
Look at the mist
No hatch still I call the future mine


(http://www.facebook.com/pen.8.paper)

Passion

Each and every one is passionate about
one or more things, without the slightest doubt.
Tell me, what do you do? When that feeling has come over you.
Tell me, is it true? Does it fulfill your self-fulfillment all the way through?

Each and every one is passionate about
one or more things, without saying it out loud.
Tell me, what means success to you? Give me the slightest clue.
Tell me, why is the sky different blue? Why its colour depths no limit to you.

Each and every one is passionate about
one or more things, while living in that cloud.
Tell me, how real is your ambition? Without risking collision.
Tell me, how important is devotion? Without the risk of self-deception.

Each and every one is passionate about
one or more things, you made me feel proud.
Tell me, share with thee, make them see.
Say we, live passion, my heart is free.

P ass
a ny
s ubsequent
s elf-centred
i mpulses
o f
n egativity

Oh Yeah?

I know, it is a very unusual title for an ordinary poem, but pardon me and my ignorance if, as usual, I can’t meet all the expectations.

Oh yeah, before I forget, how could I forget about you and your unusual and extraordinary lifestyle, pardon me if I dedicate your extra to the ordinary – usually unusual has that extra...

Oh yeah, what is the point to point out my mistakes
– when the point of the pen is put to the paper
– as the pen unleashes a life of its own
– manifests itself on paper, every letter feels overthrown

Inspiration – narrated so many times
Liberation – requested, finally it rhymes
Hold back
I have a stack
Of things to do
Not everything revolves around me, what about you?

Oh yeah, pardon me – I was about to tell
Your story – it might be a good sell

Oh yeah?
Put the stress on the ‘Oh’ – leave the ‘Yeah’ over there
Surprised as I am
Somebody placed a ban
On our title

Oh yeah? As if it was vital…
Don’t worry
It’s still about me and your story
Let me take a deep breath!
Like a hero, taking his last before death.

That sounds dramatic!
I doubt though my readership prefers it romantic
My friend, the prologue has been prolonged
You promised your poem turns out to be strong.


We call this poem:


– Freedom of Speech –


Even if freedom is beyond our reach
The very moment you come close to his personal space
Is the very moment you spit in his face
So what is freedom without showing respect
For his faith, except for the fact
That it is what freedom expects

Freedom of speech

Even if freedom is beyond our reach
It might be different, the way you perceive
My thoughts – didn’t receive any relief
Mogadishu is still devastated
Maybe it was me who hesitated
I wish I had the courage as a five year old
To stand tall, who knew what the future would hold

Dear mother, you were not much older than me today, back then
Your strength and your love is something I will never comprehend
I remember those nights
Those fights
People dying for space on a packed boat
You held us together – even if it looked like the end of the road
I still smell the sick, the blood and misery of the people
Your arms, our shelter – wrapped in your garment – heaven sent, safe from evil
Dear father, I couldn’t ask for a better
Man to be my father, you sensed the stormy weather
You had so many losses – I still cherish your biography
Peace is your philosophy

Freedom of speech

Even if freedom is beyond our reach
I was never into politics
Still my friend, I am aware of the conflicts
While I wrote about Liberté, Égalité et Fraternité
Revolution was overdue in Tunesia – C’est passé
Now everyone talks about Egypt and Yemen
Everyone seems to know better – I don’t blame them
Leave the power to the people and history
There are other ways than blood shed – to victory

Freedom of speech

Even if freedom is beyond our reach
You don’t know me and my mistakes
And still you know what breaks
A person’s spirit
There is no choice but to get on with it
Hold the mirror up to me
Even if the image you see
Seems so low
What makes you better – even if I’m slow
Like the clock on the wall
You hear my call

You say

– Freedom of Speech –

Is your way?

What is your freedom based on?
I guess I was wrong
Even if the hypocrite is slow of speech,
He still has the freedom to preach!

Have You Been?

Let me take you on a journey with pride
Which I have not undertaken before

Let’s sit by the fireside
Until the early hours of the morning, let’s agree on four

Sit down and relax
Lean back and reflect

Have you been into this situation
You closed your eyes and reached a destination

Called home
Not being on your own
Not ready to depart
Your heart

Have you been into this situation
You closed your eyes and felt liberation

Called freedom
Living the early morning
Watching the soft glow
Breaking dawn, very slow

Have you been into this situation
You closed your eyes followed by a sincere smile with fascination

Called momentary happiness
You see one nation, landscape being endless

One people smiling, greeting with Peace
One language, trading like brothers with ease

One culture, praying five times a day
One faith, ancient proverbs showing me the way

Son and daughter of the path
It’s not hardship what made them laugh

Rhetoric made pleasant with narrations of the past
You can’t deny the beauty of modesty at last

He is nomadic
Life educated him to an academic

She is an epic poet
Her beauty expressed in words never came to an end

Have you been into this situation
You closed your eyes and felt a sensation

From the south to the north, from the east to the west a celebration

The Horn of Africa comes back to life as one nation
Have you been into this situation

Roads

In life we have our different ways
They say friends come and go but family stays
For some it doesn’t make sense, even though it rhymes
Therefore, let Abdi try to find more fitting lines
Written in prose
Trying to reach out and keep it close

"If you look at what you have in life and what you desire, did you ever ask yourself where that attitude; that state of mind is coming from? It is only human if people try to keep the ‘state of being’ in coherence with their demand; this shapes us human in a way. When needs become more than necessities, when we try to define what being human really means – that is when we don’t make hold at physical appearance, some are more satisfied now with the story our genes might tell. Our looks might be a first finger print to some, but if that gives reason enough to call me human, I wonder what difference it made in previous centuries. Why did one group of people think of another group something less? I agree, this goes a bit too far as we all know what we are capable of when it comes to “retaining power” by simply demonising another race, faith and ideology. Let’s put the past and the politics aside for a while.

Why am I saying all that? Well, before you can identify yourself with someone, you need to get to know that person, and to find out what a person is really like, you have to look at ‘the road’ that person has taken before."

Abdi thinks that “roads” shape the personality of a person and therefore their life.

Abdi distinguishes between the freeway, the avenue, the boulevard, the side road and the pavement of life.

The Freeway
Chasing life on the fast lane today
Dressed in grey, the bodywork of my car
Leaning out of the window cigarette smoke; so far
I forgot myself, the last time I was told
They called me mister useless-unable-to-grab-a-hold
Misdeed was my miss indeed
Getting me into trouble, guess I was in need
Of someone I could have related to
Pretending as if it was new on you
The mind became deadened – if you didn’t know
Thrown into prison – time goes by slow
The very moment you announce me free
Society becomes a concrete jungle, freedom grown on trees
Paranoia and anxiety became my friend
Chasing life on the fast lane to the very end.

The Avenue
Shelter since birth just to give you a clue
Protection from both sides: elementary
Something you can’t take for granted: family
From the very start you are shown the way
The foundation is laid; still you are blessing the day
Hard work and dedication is what it took
The layout of your page in the picture book
The future is like a journey into the unknown
More like a challenge until you are fully grown
You are not really spoiled for choice
Even blessed with a mother you need to raise your voice
Life shifts like the shade
Shelter since birth can finally fade.

The Boulevard
Born with a silver spoon – a few problems apart
Ironically it feeds you for some time
Piled up, the façade of the banks deny a life of crime
Living it up, since the promising colonial era
After their independence their dependence became weirder
Globalisation seemed for your own good
Exploitation led unemployment to your neighbourhood
It is always the same; there’s no one to blame
When you try to pinpoint a name
As long the high streets look satisfied
Born with a silver spoon – means born with pride.

The Side Road
Looking at life from a distance; it is a heavy load
Of work and burden, always trying to please
The man giving credit, who never ceased
In his efforts to count the last drops of blood
Trying to bring in the harvest before the flood
No one had the choice neither the chance to chase
The life he desired or the choice to choose a race
Somehow it is always the same
Looking at life from a different view, there's no one to blame.

The Pavement
Destiny was destined to be the element
Paving the path of the future past
The road under construction ever built to last
Vast! Is the knowledge of the Almighty God
Life seems to us like a building plot
Faith paved the way to endeavour and strive
Destiny was destined to shape our life.

I distinguish between the freeway, the avenue, the boulevard, the side road and the pavement of life.

Undesired

They say the arrival of a daughter
Is undesired, unwanted, parents committed slaughter
They say it marks the beginning of a nightmare
How come they don’t see beauty and blessing over there
She is a burden on the shoulders that
Have raised her, it has always been her trait
Even the womb that carried her for so long
Refused an abundance of love, but treated her wrong
Birth was nothing but a mournful day
Darling, wish I was there just to say
Don’t go, we need you, please stay

Fast forward ten years
Close your eyes, whoever fears
The tragic future of the unfortunate who can’t climb that ladder
She became a slave for any younger and elder
Boys were too good for house work since birth
They were given the world, but what determines their worth
Mother trains her so she can be more
Cursing that day, asking what she conceived her for
Knowing, oh too well women have always been the undesired gender
Used and abused, loved when they put their mask on and keep it slender
Brothers and fathers order her to clean
Fairness doesn’t require “same” but equal, you know what I mean
Yet he maintains, his sons and his pride
While she says:” Dear father, I would die for you, don’t push me to the side.”
Good for nothing, society! What are you good for!
I curse the day you came to reign, more and more!

Fast forward twenty years
Close your eyes whoever fears
Her destiny, she became a beautiful wife
Trying to make a difference, she did survive
A lovely husband but, soul same character as her aunties brother
Respect and love for the soul that unifies, don’t know from one another
“Let’s have a son.” His biggest wish
It’s preying on her mind, while serving dish
As if the gender of the unborn child is in the hands of women
So hard to see the beauty? Life is not about spreading genes in semen
Forgetting that it takes two to create one
Love your wife and Love will raise your daughter and son
And above all, it is for Allah to decide
Remember what she said? ”Dear father, I would die for you, don’t push me to the side.”


• Dedicated to all the girls that have been buried alive •
• And those who did survive •




in collaboration with Halima Ahmed

Thank you for getting me involved in this,
for the huge input and your inspiration!

Somalia - The Nation of Poets

Tambourine

Shake that tambourine
Take that sound beyond the realm
Of fancy and dream

Bear a likeness to your grandmother
Back in the days, twins resembling one another
Bedouin-like nomad life, not having the faintest idea
What the future brings, having the prior
To life

Strike that tambourine
Take it to the place of memory
Where you taught me to read and write
Distinguished between wrong and right
Child playing as it should at its age
The moment an adult turns the page

Strike that tambourine
Take the confusion which reigns supreme
Where a whole nation hid in fear
Shared the pain, no time for a silent tear

Havoc came running along
My word was my bond
Havoc came marching along
My word was facing a storm

Strike that tambourine
Take it a step further to destiny
Tell me your story, put a sign up the door
Tell me what happened that morning, even before
Your exodus, joined the queue
A misery shared by few
Trying to free them from your embrace
Consult the youth, they have the good grace
Before setting out on the journey back home
Make sure, boys and girls have grown
To leaders, ready to lead the next generation by the arm
With reassurance, combined with charm

Shake that tambourine
Heard in my dreams that scream
Of a nation, strike that tambourine

Startle me from my sleep

Still waters and pain run deep

You keep silent
They keep being violent

Strike that tambourine
Spark Black African dream