Hiiraan Online

by Ilham Abukar Dahir
8^th Grade Student

I am from cascading sand dunes,

That hug each other like long-lost lovers

I am from warm summer nights

            The piercing sun, the land it covers

I am from bright full moons,

            That pierces the night

I am from the wolves full-hearted cries,

            That is heard far and wide

I am from the sweet aroma of mangoes,

            That fills all empty spaces of the air

I am from the cool summer breeze,

            That freely moves from here to there

I am from busy market places

            Filled with people on the go

            That sway to and from

I am from a land of warring tribes,

            That cut our nation into pieces like a sword

I am from a land of losing lives

            No one can save us now but our lord

I am from chaos and uncertainty

            That blocks our narrow road to life

I am from the cheerful song of birds

            Which now have all seemed to die

I am from a land of a gaunt population

            Oh, the horror to the eyes!

I am from a land of marauding gunmen

            Like a parade of elephants,

moving in a pack, with cool sufficient strides

I am from an unstable nation

            That seems to be tilting more

From a country of war and no stable foundation

            One that can no longer endure

I am from the land of milk and honey

            Oh, how sweet it used to be

I am from the horn of land by the sea

I am from a war-torn country

Wind carrying around the last bits of debris

I am from children scared in their homes

They stay in there for shelter

I am from death knocking on front doors

And being welcomed with an answer

I am from brother torn from brother

I am from blood spilled on the streets

Like a substance no more valuable

Then the salty waters of the sea

I am from a land where the trees whistle softly

And the ground tells stories

Of when it’s people were living in bliss

And there was no such mourning

I am from the mother land

I am from the milk of the camel,

The whistle of the wind,

The heat of the sun….

All of this is where I’m from.

By Ilham Abukar Dahir

8^th Grade

Sunrise Academy

Hilliard, OH

E-mail: [email protected]