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Horn of African News Update and Analysis
Friday, September 13, 2024
Madaxnimoy - A song on leadership
Wednesday, July 06, 2022
A Haiku for the world*
Mankind goes high wire
Wisdom snails through the darkness
Cherry blossom in fall.
***
Children wail in school
Morality at gun point
Roses at bloodbath.
***
Old men lean on mics
Storms rumble on the horizon
Lilies wait to tumble.
***
Camels stand listless
Smoke rises from a factory
No tears from the sky.
***
Black bodies wash ashore
Diamonds on ivory necks
Drums beat in winter
***
Boats splash in water
Cheetah cubs whimper in bags
Soaring heat at dawn
***
Fish swims in sea slime
Dusky stars blink from the heavens
Gadgets light the earth.
- Bashir Goth, June 15, 2022 written in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
https://www.poemhunter.com/member/AddNewPoem/?poemid=61898453
Friday, January 14, 2022
Koonka Ka Ogsooni
The first lines of this poem
which have become the concluding lines “abaal kuna, abaal kaydsan, abaal kun iyo
dheeraada…” came to me on Jan12, 2022 at 9:14 AM while in the bathroom in the
room of my quarantine hotel, Swissotel, Al Ghurair Center, Omar Bin Al Khatab
Road, Deira Dubai. Then I completed it in the morning of January 13, and finally made the last edits in the morning of
January 14.
Koonka ka ogsooni
Koronuhu markuu igu dhacee, noloshu
kayrkaytay
Ee kadimada la ii oodaye, la i
karaantiinay
Kaynaanka ninkii iigu yimid, ina
karaameeyey
Abiidaba kun deeq buu ahaa,
duni kalkaalkeede
Ee kowba gurmad ii ahaa, koonka
ka ogsooni
Saxiibadii kurbadu ii gashee, koolka
damin waayey
Ee alla bariga iila soo
kalahay, koonka ka ogsooni
Ehelkii kabtiga iyo ducada,
igula soo kooyey
Ee kaarka iyo xanuunkaygu
dhibay, koonka ka ogsooni
Reerkaygii keligood cidlada, kaalintay
tebayey
Ee lahaa allow kaayagow, kani ku
weydaari
Ee kalka iyo laabtayda culay,
koonka ka ogsooni
Korka uun kuwii iga maqlee,
yeedhmo kari waayey
Ee niyadda uun allow kici lahaa,
koonka ka ogsooni
Kuwii yidhi allow uu kaw
yidhaa, kani na weydaarto
Ee habaarka iila soo
kuudadsaday, koonka ka ogsooni
Caafimaadku waa kayd ilaah, siiyo
kuu rabo e
Haddaan karinka soo dhaafo
oon, orodka kaynaansho
Abaal kuna, abaal kaydsan, abaal
kun iyo dheeraada
Qof waliba Kalkaan ugu hayaa, Kaalintuu
galaye.
---Bashir Goth, January 14, 2022.
Wednesday, December 01, 2021
An Ode for the Emirates by Bashir Goth
I wrote the following poem in 2016 but kept it under wraps not by design by accident until I remembered it today on the 50th National Day of the United Arab Emirates, a country in which I spent many years of my life and career.
An Ode for the Emirates
Weep on
their Atlal
On their blackened hearthstones
And sing an ode for the Emirates
Forget Abbasid Baghdad and its splendors
Its poets, its goblets, and its maidens
And sing an ode for the Emirates
Leave Umayyad Damascus and its domes
Its Byzantium palaces, its Udari poets
In the distant memory
And sing an ode for the Emirates
Weep not on the ruins of Al-Andalus
And its cities of light
The arches and tapestry of Al Hamra
And fountains of Madinat Al-Zahra
And sing an ode for the Emirates
***
Sing for the miracle, mythical
Meteoric rise of Abu Dhabi and Dubai
For the splendid beauty of Sharjah
For the elegance of Ajman and Umm Al Quwain
For the glory of Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah
For the Shimmering towers adorning the sky
For the highways and overhanging bridges
Stop and gaze in amazement and awe
At Arabia’s 21st century wonder
And sing an ode for the Emirates.
-Bashir Goth (2nd Dec. 2016)
Friday, June 05, 2020
قصيدة إقريقيا - بشيرالشيخ عمرغوث
Tuesday, April 28, 2020
Women and singing in Somali culture by Bashir Goth
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