#somali poets
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Ninkii ooridiisii rag kale, loo igdhaan ahaye
Ninka ilo biyo leh soo arkoo, oomman baan ahaye
I’m the man whose fiancé has been given to another,
I’m the man who sees springs but whose thirst remains unquenched.
~ - Raage Ugaas
#somalia#somali#somali literature#somali poetry#somali art#somali language#somali culture#somali poets#somali poems#suugaanta#abwaan#raage ugaas
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Elmi Boodhari (Somali: Cilmi Ismaaciil Liibaan, Arabic: علمي اسماعيل ليبان) (1908 – 1940) was a Somali poet and pioneer in the genre of Somali love poems. He is known among Somalis as the King of Romance (Boqorkii Jacaylka). He was born near the border between Ethiopia and Somalia in 1908 and hailed from the Eidagale sub-clan
He is known in the Somali world for his love poems that he wrote to a girl named Hodan Abdulle that he fell in love and met in Berbera. Boderi was working at a bakery shop in the port city of Berbera when he fell in love with Hodan Abdi. Bodari began to write her romantic poems, and in one of his poems he spoke of once seeing Hodan’s naked body, which was considered a serious offense in those times given and still is, in addition to several other elements that stood in the face of him marrying her. Hodan got married and it is said that he died from the resulting heartbreak.
Elmi Boodhari differed from the poets of his generation in that he eschewed the popular theme of Tribal war and vengeance in Somali poetry, instead wholly focusing on love and composing all his poems for Hodan, which was seen as highly unconventional and scandalous, for this reason he was ridiculed by society.
Author Mohamed Diiriye in his book Culture and Customs of Somalia, writes:
Among the poets of the past century, a poet who has gained the hearts of all Somalis in every district is Elmi Boodhari, many major poets such as Mohamed Abdallah Hassan and Abdi Gahayr, aroused resentment among some Somalis, as they addressed diatribes against the members of a certain clan, or urged bloodletting; such poets are known as viper tongues, and the poems of such poets have been known to cause feuds and clan wars. But not so with Elmi Boodhari, his subject was romance and only that. While the poets of his day where addressing serious subjects such as war and feuds, Boodhari composed all of his poems for the lady of his affection Hodan, who was given in hand of marriage to a man much wealthier than him. Instead of getting literary kudos for his beautiful verse, Boodhari was made the object of public ridicule. Somali society had not been of course devoid of romance either in song or prose in any age, but to proclaim the object of ones love was frowned upon in the social mores of Somalis.
Boodhari also faced alienation and ridicule from his fellow Eidagale kinsmen and composed the following verse:
If a man has a wound he is taken to the doctor, but the braves of Daud are ridiculing me
Mohamed Diiriye commenting on the above verse writes:
It was enough that Hodan's relatives were infuriated and felt that their daughter's name had been soiled by a man who was proclaiming in public his love for her, but Boodhari also had to face the fury of his kinsmen, the Daud, who all together disowned him for spending his days pining for one woman when they could get him a girl as beautiful or more beautiful than she. Boodhari tried in lament to remind his kinsmen that the wounds of the heart merit the same attention as the wounds of the flesh.
She is altogether fair: Her fine-shaped bones begin her excellence; Magnificent of bearing, tall is she; A proud grace is her body’s greatest splendor; Yet she is gentle, womanly, soft of skin. Her gums’ dark gloss is like unto blackest ink; And a careless flickering of her slanted eyes Begets a light clear as the white spring moon. My heart leaps when I see her walking by, Infinite suppleness in her body’s sway. I often fear that some malicious djinn May envy her beauty, and wish to do her harm.
— From “Qaraami” (Passion), as presented by Margaret Laurence in A Tree for Poverty.
Influence on Somali Music
Boodharis poetic style and subject matter heavily influenced Somali Music and musicians such as Abdullahi Qarshe who was one of the pioneers the popular Balwo and Heello Genres.
Matters began to change following World War 2 as musicians and composers, like Abdullahi Qarshe, popularly known as the father of Somali music, began to pioneer a new genre- that of Balwo and Heello, both of these terms refer to forms of lyrical verse, the difference between the two being that balwo is four lines only while heello is considerably longer. Both styles broke new grounds in style and content. the subject matter differed radically from the past, as compositions focused in on love and nationalism, rather than the epic tales of war and adversity as in the old hees, at least some of this shift can be accredited to Elmi Boodhari, a baker who composed during the 1930s. He is said to have recited his compositions describing his unrequited love for a woman named Hodan until he wasted away and perished in 1941. ~Africa: An Encyclopedia of Culture and Society [3 volumes]: An Encyclopedia of Culture and Society
#elmi boodhari#poet#poetry#african#kemetic dreams#somali#abdullahi qarshe#boodharis#balwo#heello#somali music#eidagala#ethiopia#east africa#east africans#baker#world war 2#genres#culture#society#king of romance
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I used to be a spoken word poet. In a past life, I won many awards, competitions and even competed in the National Canadian Spoken Word Festival when I was 19. My team came in 2nd. I love poetry. I love writing. Its one of the only ways I can get through life.
My poetry collection is called True Gold Never Fears Fire. Its an ancient Chinese philosophy. It means if you have integrity and strength, you can get through anything.
I am going to publish it piece by piece on my Substack. hudapoetry.substack.com
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Our eyes met, and I poured my love into you,
Filling my heart’s cup to the brim.
For, all is what I gave,
Leaving nothing for myself,
Creating a cavity within.
Now, I see the void I created,
A space only Allah can fill.
Releasing you, I cleanse my soul.
He.Wrote — Craving for what once held me captive.
#somali#warsan shire#khalil gibran#poetry#love#black poets on tumblr#black poets society#poetblr#poets on tumblr#poetsandwriters
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blog introduction + about me
In recent years, the dehumanization of refugees and immigrants has become impossible to ignore.
In the United States, families fleeing unimaginable horrors such as war or immense oppression have been met not with safety, but with completely cruelty. In a country that prides itself on being the "land of the free", nonetheless. Rather than being taken to shelter and safety, children are torn from their parents at the border, locked in cages, and referred to as “unaccompanied alien minors,” as if their humanity was secondary to their immigration status. Political leaders have continuously fed into the hatred, calling immigrants “animals” and describing them as a “national security threat.” In recent months, President elect Donald Trump described Haitian refugees as "They're eating the cats, they're eating the dogs." These words, repeated again and again, have justified policies that treated these families as less than human, as though their suffering didn’t matter.
In Europe, it is no different. Refugees escaping war and persecution find themselves trapped in refugee camps like Moria, where the conditions were so poor that one humanitarian aid worker called it “a place of sheer hopelessness.” Politicians didn’t hold back their disdain. Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, called refugees “Muslim invaders,” while others described their boats as carrying “human meat.” When we hear words like that, it’s no surprise that so many people turned a blind eye to what was happening. Refugees were left to drown in the Mediterranean or sit for years in squalid camps, waiting for help that never comes.
What makes all of this even more devastating is how refugees and immigrants are so often reduced to numbers, and thus dehumanized even further. The stories of who they are—what they’ve endured, what they’ve lost—are rarely told. Instead, we hear statistics: thousands detained, hundreds drowned, millions displaced. But behind each number is a human being. A mother clutching her child as they cross a river in the dead of night. A teenager leaving behind everything they know for a chance to live without fear. A father who would do anything to provide a better life for his family. Their stories matter, but we rarely hear them. After all, it's easier to ignore suffering when it doesn’t have a face.
But that doesn’t mean it isn’t there.
It is this reason that has inspired me to create a Tumblr blog that addresses this problem. Through seeing and learning about these people that we've so often reduced into numbers, we can fully understand their troubles. And by welcoming them with empathy and kindness rather than cruelty and oppression, we can treat them as the humans that they are.
My goal for blog posts is to do a mix of informative readings, as well as present the stories of real life refugees and immigrants through interviews. As I begin to post, I encourage others to submit their own stories and photos.
For a little bit about me: my name is Dania and I am a student at the University of Indianapolis, studying International Relations. While I was blessed with being born an American citizen, I am Iraqi and my parents are refugees who fled the country following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. I have seen first hand how countries and livelihoods are destroyed, so people face no choice but to flee, even if their home is beautiful and beloved to them. I hope to one day use my degree for a career in International Development and transform third-world countries into beautiful, livable places. Because, in the words of the British-Somali poet Warsan Shire, "Nobody leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark."
#refugees#immigrants#immigration#deportation#social justice#discrimination#iraq war#iraq#free syria#free palestine#syrian refugees#europe#france#sweden#save gaza#middle east#united states#united nations#colonialism#oppression#free all oppressed peoples#afganistan#somalia#social issues#xenophobes#exploitation
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Home by Warsan Shire
Warsan Shire (born 1 August 1988) is a British writer, poet, editor and teacher, who was born to Somali parents in Kenya. You might know her work as the spoken word segments in Beyoncé's 2016 feature-length film Lemonade.
Photograph by Amaal Said
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no one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark.
you only run for the border when you see the whole city running as well.
your neighbors running faster than you, the boy you went to school with who kissed you dizzy behind the old tin factory is holding a gun bigger than his body, you only leave home when home won't let you stay.
no one would leave home unless home chased you, fire under feet, hot blood in your belly.
it's not something you ever thought about doing, and so when you did - you carried the anthem under your breath, waiting until the airport toilet to tear up the passport and swallow, each mouthful of paper making it clear that you would not be going back.
you have to understand, no one puts their children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land.
who would choose to spend days and nights in the stomach of a truck unless the miles travelled meant something more than journey.
no one would choose to crawl under fences, be beaten until your shadow leaves you, raped, then drowned, forced to the bottom of the boat because you are darker, be sold, starved, shot at the border like a sick animal, be pitied, lose your name, lose your family, make a refugee camp a home for a year or two or ten, stripped and searched, find prison everywhere and if you survive and you are greeted on the other side with go home blacks, refugees dirty immigrants, asylum seekers sucking our country dry of milk, dark, with their hands out smell strange, savage - look what they've done to their own countries, what will they do to ours?
the dirty looks in the street softer than a limb torn off, the indignity of everyday life more tender than fourteen men who look like your father, between your legs, insults easier to swallow than rubble, than your child's body in pieces - for now, forget about pride your survival is more important.
i want to go home, but home is the mouth of a shark home is the barrel of the gun and no one would leave home unless home chased you to the shore unless home tells you to leave what you could not behind, even if it was human.
no one leaves home until home is a damp voice in your ear saying leave, run now, i don't know what i've become.
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fc masterlist updates:
fc wishlist:
Blake Patrick Anderson (?) - is queer - actor.
Alex Thomas-Smith (?) - non-binary - they/he - actor, model, instagrammer.
fat/plus size:
Ali Adel (1998) Egyptian - actor.
Laura Adlington (?) - instagrammer.
disabled:
Alex Parra / alex1leg (2000) - instagrammer and youtuber.
updated that Gabe Adams come out as a trans woman**
black lgbt:
Alex Thomas-Smith (?) - non-binary - they/he - actor, model, instagrammer.
updated Yasmin Benoit's ethnicity**
nonb:
Diana King (1970) Afro-Jamaican / Indo-Jamaican - non-binary and lesbian - they/them/it - singer-songwriter.
Zanele Muholi (1972) Black South African - non-binary - they/them - artist and visual activist.
Honey Mahogany / Alpha Mulugeta (1983) Ethiopian - non-binary - she/they - drag artist and singer.
Thishiwe Ziqubu (1985) Zulu South African - non-binary - he/they - actor, director, and writer.
Honey Davenport / James Heath-Clark (1986) African-American - non-binary they/them - drag artist and singer.
Caldwell Tidicue / Bob the Drag Queen (1986) African-American - non-binary, pansexual and poly - he/her - drag artist, comedian, activist, musician, songwriter, and reality television personality.
IRAWNIQ (1986) Mexican / African-american - genderfluid and lesbian - she/they - singer and rapper.
Ian Isiah (1989) Afro-Trinidadian - pangender and pansexual - he/him - singer, director, and artist.
E. / MHYSHA (1990) African-American - non-binary - they/them - artist and singer.
Monét X Change / Kevin Bertin (1990) Afro-Saint Lucian - non-binary - drag artist.
Dahlia Sin / Erick Anthony (1991) Afro-Brazilian - non-binary - drag artist.
MegaGoneFree (2001) African American - non-binary and pansexual - she/they - singer-songwriter.
Megane Mercury (?) Black Spanish - non-binary - he/she/they - model and singer.
Anjimile (?) African-American - non-binary - he/they - folk musician.
Yves Tumor (?) African-American - non-binary - they/them - singer.
Dreamcrusher (?) African-Ameirican - non-binary - they/them - singer.
Maxi Glamour (?) African-American - non-binary - they/fae - drag artist and reality star.
Maya Finoh (?) African-American - non-binary - they/them - model.
Squishyykins (?) Black - agender - it/its and any pronouns- Instagrammer.
Hollow Eve / Caitlin Crandall (?) African-American - non-binary - they/them - drag artist - tw for horror imagery.
Alex Thomas-Smith (?) - non-binary - they/he - actor, model, instagrammer.
Grove (?) Black British - non-binary and queer - they/them - DJ.
updated Sonny Kiss' pronouns**
trans:
Louïz (1984) Réunionese - singer, dancer, Miss International Queen France 2020, and choreographer.
Jazell Barbie Royale (1987) African-American - model and singer.
Katlego Kai Kolanyane-Kesupile (1988) Motswana - singer, performance artist, and writer.
Kia LaBeija (1990) African-American / Filipino - artist - is HIV positive.
Backxwash / Ashanti Mutinta (1991) Zambian - rapper and producer.
Bobrisky (1992) Nigerian - internet personality and actress.
Gabe Adams-Wheatley (?) Brazilian - has Hanhart syndrome, is a wheelchair user and congenital amputee - is trans - Instagrammer.
Kelet (?) Somali - model and actress.
Kokumo (?) African-American - singer and poet.
KC Ortiz (?) African-American - artist, rapper, musician, writer, and entertainer.
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Alredered Remembers Warsan Shire, Kenyan-born Somali poet and writer, on her birthday.
"I have my mother’s mouth and my father’s eyes; on my face they are still together."
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Gobanimo
Freedom is nothing else
It's a journey amidst the journeys of life
When a person's ambitions and needs outgrow the confines of their current social structures
Be it clan systems or the subsequent colonial regimes
and their aspirations and intelligence become larger than the way of life
They move towards freedom
Gobanimo.
The time they move towards it , fight for it, sacrifice their life for it
It's done for a purpose
He's searching for it so to live by it
He's not worshipping it
It's not a nice picture he looks at
-Somali poet Hadraawi talking through his poem 'Gudgude'
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Poet's Corner: Bless The Daughter by Warsan Shire #BookReview #BriefTakes
Bless The Daughter Raised By A Voice In Her Head, is the first full collection of poetry by Somali-English author Warsan Shire, published in 2022 by Random House. It has received a fair amount of attention and praise for a new book of poetry, which is always exciting to those of us who love poetry! This book of poems has a very unique perspective in contemporary poetry. The author, Warsan Shire,…
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Sariida Fardowsoo
Safkii Nebiga raacoo
Salaamo uga dhigan taa.
in the pastures of Paradise:
may you be assigned to the Prophet's company,
that's my salaam of parting,
- Cabdulqaadir Cabdi ‘Shube’
#somalia#somali#somali literature#somali poetry#somali art#somali language#somali culture#suugaanta#litrature#somali poets#poetry#poem#somali gabay#abwaan#shube
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talked with fatima today and alhamdullilah, our spiritual connection has been proven time and time again
fatima went to a poetry event after iftar and met two girls, one somali named Najma and one Sudani named Nama. She said the Somali girl was a lovely, bubbly poet who had published her own poetry book who reminded her of me and the Sunday girl just graduated from law school. they hung out and ended up having suhoor together
she said it felt like last ramadan all over again where we spent so much time together, and she almost cried! alhamdullilah i love our connection, i will truly never get over how deep it runs.
since we first reconnected we have been sharing poetry with each other, collecting them to put into a shared poetry book one day inshallah. we had both found poetry again seperately but at the same time.
now we connected again today after not speaking for a few months and we have both moved on to painting/drawing and shared our peices with one another
fatima is my soul mate, i love you sm friend ♥️
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Why Pakistan is expelling Afghan refugees
The interim government’s decision to expel all refugees from its territory also goes against the very spirit of why Pakistan came into being – a place where residents once under threat of persecution could live and be free, Dawn reports.
British-Somali poet Warsan Shire recently said:
No one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark.
This poem by Shire has become an appeal to refugees, emigrants and those who continue to seek refuge in other countries. Pakistan is one such haven – a country that hosts one of the largest refugee populations in the world.
However, in early October, an unexpected ultimatum was issued: the interim government of Pakistan demanded that all “illegal immigrants” leave the country by 1 November. After that date, they are to be deported, their businesses and property confiscated, and any locals who assisted them must face the law – all with the help of a new task force.
Learn more HERE
#world news#world politics#news#pakistan news#pakistan#afghanistan#muslim countries#muslim community#afghanistan news#afghan refugees#afganistan#afghan women#taliban news#taliban
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re INVOLUNTARY ACTIONS..
re involuntary actions-- I wrote to Javatasi Dasa... and afterwards looked and I had written I am a useless painter and poet.. I KNOW I WOULD NEVER WRITE THIS .. voice over from lab. It was the Pakistani in the lab you fed it on into the machine as you were writing. A lot of people have said nasty things about me and then said-- I didn't say that. Their friend tells them - you did.. huh? no not me. Aneesa Somali Stubbins Lane, is not back yet, We fed into her brain all last year so she got really good marks and fed into her mind to copy from Fekete's books she refused to return to her erstwhile tutor. besides teaching books, I had given her a whole library of dozens of History novels, stories of the Kings and Queens of England since the beginning, lovely stories, which I thought would help her to understand English history, besides normal teaching history and maths books and books to help her little brother with his studies--. Well, sometimes nothing you do for some people is good enough for them... I don't think I have ever done so much for anyone-- even my own family. quote At lab we don't want her to come back. When she does come back, she'll ask for a council flat in a different part of Sheffield so she doesn't have to go to Longley College where they know
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Tributes for Renowned Somali musician Ahmed Naji Sa'ad
Tributes have been pouring in for one of Somalia’s musical greats, Ahmed Naji Sa’ad, who died in London this week. The celebrated singer, musician, poet, and composer had a career spanning almost seven decades, renowned in the Somali community worldwide for his songs of peace and patriotism. Naji had fled his homeland in 1991 when civil war broke out, and found his permanent home in London,…
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Ubah Cristina Ali Farah
Ubah Cristina Ali Farah is a Somali Italian poet, novelist, playwright, librettist and oral performer. She is the author of three novels, Madre piccola (2007; Little Mother, IUP 2011, republished in 2022 by 66thand2nd) Il comandante del fiume(2014; The Commander of the River, forthcoming IUP 2021, republished in 2022 by 66thand2nd), Le stazioni della luna (The Stations of the Moon, June 2021),…
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