by Ahmed J. Hamud
How Long?
How long can we take the pain How long can we bear the shame How long can we wander in vain How long can we wait for rain
How long?
How long can a mother endure before her baby is fed How long can a father hide his beloved daughter’s shame
How long can we wait for deliverance
From highway hustlers and Qat Peddlers From ‘Skinnys’ and ‘Snatchers’ From tree killers and poison dumpers
How long can we heed
The clan cry of the wolves The poison words of cyber nomads The hate murmurs of the Moryaans The dictates of the Gaal
The merchants of our misery In Nairobi and New York
How long can we ignore Somalis beheaded and beaten in Jeddah and JohannesburgSomalis stoned to death in Capetown and Spazatown Somalis washed away with dead fish in Malta and Malaysia
Let us seize the momentLet us remove the Isbaaros of the heart Let us nuke the evil from the land Let us disinfect the stench of death
Let us infuse life and wealth
Let us NOT, Let us NOT (once again) distinguish the glimmer of hope
Ahmed J. Hamud Toronto , Canada E-mail: [email protected]Ahmed J. Hamud is the Author of “Cry With Me” and “I am a Warlord” on the theme of the plight and suffering of the Somali people