Madaxnimoy - A song on leadership

The following song called Madaxnimoy (leadership) explains the different objectives that politicians have in seeking leadership. Addressing leadership as a person, it says: 

 O' leadership, people seek you for different reasons Some see you as a scary thing a lion’s canine and as bitter as an aloe gel, while others see you as a sweet honey to be licked. 

Some see you as fearful as the oceans' deadly waves and storms, while others see you as lush green ranges that need to be grazed. 

Some see you as a light that leads people out of the darkness, while others see you as a treasure waiting to be looted. 

Some see you as a throne, a mirrored palace and endless partying, 

while others see you as a time bomb tied to their hands waiting to explode anytime. 

Some see you as a vision to be embraced to lead the people out of darkness, while others see you as a place of entertainment and singing!

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.

 * I told my wife that I forgot to bring a book with me to read during my trip to Minnesota and she told me to write a poem about the condition of the world. Hence, this haiku was born.

https://www.poemhunter.com/member/AddNewPoem/?poemid=61898453

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.

 Hoos ka dhegeyso isaga oo coda ah (listen to the audio below):

Koonka Ka Ogsooni

https://soundcloud.com/bashir-goth/koonka-ka-ogsooni-m4a

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

 Let Imraul Qais, Antra and yesteryear poets

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) 

 

قصيدة إقريقيا - بشيرالشيخ عمرغوث

إفريقيا

رغم القحط في الأرجاء

رغم الذل

رغم الفقر

رغم الظلام الملبد في الفيحاء

سأغني وأغني

وبسماع النغم

ستغمرني البهجة

رغم الداء

***

إفريقيا

ستولد إفريقيا الجديد

من صرخة الأطفال

من ضياع كرامة الإنسان والأمان

من فوهة البركان

ويستيقط المارد العنيد

قوياً

جاهدا

يكسر الأغلال والحديد

معلناً

الأستقلال من جديد

***

إفريقيا

هل تسمع الدفوف

والقرع في الطبول

فالشاعر المغمور

لم يغلبه الخمول

فاليوم "سوينكا"1

قد سكت الفحول

وبكرة من يؤول

فالشعر في البحور

في دربك المهجور

يكون في القبور

لم يصمت الـ " سنجور"2

والعاشق المقهور

"محمد الفيتور"3

***

وقالت لي السمراء

تعاتبني

وتنظرني

كأني صرت كالحرباء

ومن غيري تكون السمراء؟

أتهتفها

أم تمقتها

أم تروي قصة الأعداء

أكون أنا

بلا إنتماء؟

وبإسمي

حتى إسمي

أكون به من الإماء

ولغيري يكون بهاء

أين التاريخ يا بلهاء؟

***

فقلت لها

وأنا في دومة الأعياء

أيا أماه

كذا وُلدنا

كذا وُجدنا

كذا حفظنا

دورس الإملاء

أنك وحدك السوداء

وغيرك البيض والسمراء

***

فقالت

يا لها من أبناء

أُناس يحفظ الإملاء

يُدوّن الآراء

كل ما قاله السفهاء

ولا يُجيد لي إصغاء

أروي لهم أساطيري

أروج روح أفكاري

فلا فخر لأمجادي

ولا أذنٌ لآمالي

فيا ويلي من الأبناء

ويا ويلي من الإستهزاء.

                                                      بشير الشيخ عمر غوث (10 يناير 1987)

1- سوينكا : هو وولي سوينكا كاتب مسرحي شهير من نيجيريا حائز على جائزة نوبل للأداب عام 1986

2- سنجور: ليبولد سدار سينغور كان شاعرا مرموقاً وأديباً عالمياً وأول رئيس للسنغال توفي عام  2001 وكان فيلسوف نظرية الزنوجة التي كان الشاعر المرتنيكي ايميه سيزار من روادها.

3- محمد الفيتور: هو محمد الفيتوري كان شاعراً سودانيا بارزا يعد من رواد الشعر الحر الحديث وكان يلقب بشاعر أفريقيا والعروبة توفي في أبريل عام 2015

Women and singing in Somali culture by Bashir Goth

Singing is not only an integral part of daily life for Somali women but also a medium through which they can express their grievances and criticise paternalistic social norms that have solidified men’s hegemony over women and limited their social participation to certain stereotyped roles. From a mother’s lullabies to work songs, folkloric dance lyrics and the famous buraanbur genre, Somali women’s sung poetry conveys messages and stories about their status in society

READ MORE

Bal Eeg (Gudniin ) A poem in Somali on Female Genital Mutilation with English translation

Bal Eeg (Gudniin ) with audio version

Quraanka iyo ilayska bal eeg

Waxan Eebbe ku sheegin bal eeg

Awowgaa ku dhaqmaayey bal eeg

Ayaad aayado mooddee bal eeg

Anbad baad ku jirtaaye bal eeg

Aqligaaga u fiirso bal eeg

Upon the Quran, the light, reflect

on what God said, reflect

and that which He did not say, reflect.

Reflect, if you may, and you will know it is only

but a custom, a tradition of your forefathers

that you mistook for God’s command.

Reflect, if you may, and you will know

that you indeed have lost your way

Reflect, if you may, and surely

you will return to your sound mind!

Ilaahay asturaadda bal eeg

Siduu meesha u uumay bal eeg

Inaan eediba gaadhin bal eeg

Malko loogu adkeeyey bal eeg

Arxan loogu dhammeeyey bal eeg

Asalkii nolosheena bal eeg

Upon how God protected the organ, reflect

Upon how God created it, reflect

Reflect, if you may, on how God kept it

safe from all harm

Upon how God made it Impregnable, reflect

Reflect, if you may, on how God endowed it

with all care and mercy

Upon the origin of our life, reflect.

Si aanay u asqoobin bal eeg

Ummushu uga irdhoobin bal eeg

Ilmaheeda u hiifin bal eeg

Ilaahay asmadiisa bal eeg

Elaastiigga ka yeelay bal eeg

Adna aad ku adkaysay bal eeg.

Upon how God spared the mother

From anguish and despair, reflect

on how God spared her from

resenting her offspring, reflect

Reflect, if you may, on how God shows us his signs

by fashioning the organ elastic;

Reflect, on how you insist on constricting it

and mutilating it, reflect.

Ib ilaahay baneeyey bal eeg

Inaad awddo awoodda bal eeg

Keligaa isa siisay bal eeg

Noloshii unkamaysay bal eeg

Ama tii Imanaysay bal eeg

Afaafkeeda ka oodday bal eeg

Reflect, if you may, on how God cleared the passage

And upon how audaciously you allow yourself

to close it, reflect.

Reflect, if you may, on how much power

You endow yourself with

by blocking the way to the life being conceived

and blocking the way to the life being born

O reflect on that, if you may!

Araggeegiyo nuurka bal eeg

Raxmaddaa ifka joogta bal eeg

Adna uub u qodayso bal eeg

Ubaxaa ad il duuftay bal eeg

Aynigeega dilayso bal eeg

Aqligaaga u fiirso bal eeg.

O reflect, if you may, on how glowing

how perfect she is

O reflect, if you may, on this mercy

that Heaven gifted the world

O reflect, if you may, on how  

you insist on burying her

O reflect, if you may, on that bloom

You failed to see;

O reflect, upon the grace you kill,

O reflect, if you may, and surely

you will return to your sound mind

                                    Bashir Goth, Wednesday 15^th Jan. 2014.

Audio version