The British Are Telling Me Stories
Message No. 1 comes from Sayyid Mohamed Abdulle Hassan who fought with the British for nearly quarter of a century in his effort to stop them from colonizing his beloved motherland of Somalia. He is known to be a nationalist/religious hero and a great poet .
He turned himself twice in his grave
With anger resting on his face he rose
He wanted to ask a very simple question
"Please listen to me Somalis" he said
"I hear so much about Somalis in here
Are you all with us in this other world?”
The British are telling me stories
’They say you died for nothing Mr.Hassan
They say you killed us for nothing
The very people you have died for
Are themselves killing each other today
They are displaced within their country
They crossed borders. They are refugees
If you had allowed us to colonize Somalia
Your people would now have acted like the British
They would have spoken English just like the queen
They would not have gone to war like mad dogs
We would have interfered to stop bloodshed
Wherever the light of the empire touched
There is plenty of peace and stability
Take Somali-land as a good example
Compare it with the rest of Somalia”
“Oh Somalis oh my people” said Sayyidka
If what these kuffar are saying is true
I must wish my soul be incarnated
Into a man with deep feeling of Somalinimo
I died to keep my country alive for ever
But you are living to kill your country
I can’t remain a hero in your history
Please return all my poems to me
You don't deserve to keep them any more
The Italians Are Telling Me Stories
Message NO. 2 comes from Hawa Osman Tako who is a Somali heroines who sacrificed her life for the sake of freeing her people from the Italian colonialists. A statue was built for her to show how the country loved and honored its martyrs. Now the same Italians that had died in the clash in that same day are telling Ms. Tako stories about the current situation in Somalia which she couldn't believe. Hawa's narration of the story goes like this
The Italians fired machine guns
They were more powerful than us
They carried superior weaponry
They wanted to kill the Somalis
They wanted to crash our people
They wanted to silence our voice
But that was no easy job for them
With bows and arrows we shot back
We threw spears and stones at them
Many a warrior had died on the spot
I was one of those killed that day
My name is Hawa Osman Tako
Here in this part of the other world
The Italians are telling me stories
They talk ill of my beloved Somalia
I can't bear with their hard hitting
Somalia can't go astray that far
We fought to liberate our motherland
But they think their stay was far better
They say you were wrong to fight with us
Your people are now killing each other
No single spot in the country is safe
Bullets are flying everywhere in Somalia
Everything was destroyed and dismantled
They say even statues had been looted
"What" I said
"Ask your people" they answered
Hey Somalis if what they say is true
Please delete my name from your books
In the history of unpatriotic people
Tribalists are recorded as heroes
The Ethiopians Are Telling me Stories
Message No. 3 Comes from the great hero, Mr. Halane who died in the Somali Ethiopian war of 1964. He lost his life with the Somali flag wrapped on his body. He has this to say :
Way back in 1964 a war broke out
Two neighbors in the Horn fought
Somalia and Ethiopia collided in
In that battle a soldier had died
His name is Mr. Mohamed A. Halane
He is me. I'm speaking from Heaven
When the bullet struck my colleague
I saw blood oozing from his mouth
His skull was ripped off in the sand
I rushed to take his position soon
I had to save the flag from falling
A flag is a symbol of national unity
I was sworn in to defend that unity
It was time to go for this lofty cause
The next bullet hit me in the head
I died with the flag wrapped on me
Now in this part of the other world
The Ethiopians are telling me stories
They say
"You died for nothing undear Mr.Halane
Somalia has plunged itself in a chaos
Its people are killing each other daily
Ethiopians are calling them to spare life
The North seceded to become Somali-Land
Union bond was broken with the heat of time
Dreams of Somali-Weyn had hit the rocks"
Oh Somalis
If what the Ethiopians are saying is true
Please bring the Flag back to me
On a spirit of nationhood it was created
Not on fantasies of tribal hallucinations
If it can not stand what it was meant for
It is shame to let it flutter in clan zones
Based on your narrow tribal-based vision
Make flags well tailored for your interests
You don’t deserve to have this one as a flag
In heaven God will turn it to a silk stuff
Martyrs who died for it will sit and sleep on it
Abdi-Noor Mohamed
E-mail: [email protected]
Mogadishu, Somalia
