The exchange of one US dollar to Somali shilling is so huge that you need a cartoon to carry it. Our money is getting worthless as time goes by.
In his fat but weeping pockets
He keeps huge amounts of money
Rich is what you think of him
But in the depths of poverty
He wails on the walls of poverty
With the money he earns a month
He feels warm for only a few days
Behind the ramparts of poverty
He tries to hide from poverty
But while running away from poverty
He only falls in the jaws of poverty
Speaking as cold as the food he eats
He avoids wasting energy unnecessarily
He is a Somali teacher in Mogadishu
Trapped in a web of tribal intricacy
Torn apart by inflation and anarchy
Terrorized by the sound of rockets
But through the dark haze of illusion
His heart sees a shining ray of hope
Flickering at the at the end of the tunnel
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Reviews of "Poverty"
Reviewed by Fergus Hancock (Reader)
Reviewed on April 24, 2007
Abdi-Noor, this poem reads as if it were a sung lament; I can imagine funeral wailings rending the speaker's voice. Such hopelessness, but hope lies before, ayt the end of the tunnel. May you coime to that light so quickly my friend. Such a change at the end of the poem; it brings my heart back to life after the pain of the poem. Thank you!
Blessings, prayers and friendship across the wide Indian Ocean.
Fergus
Reviewed by Flying Fox Ted L Glines (Reader)
Reviewed on March 18, 2007
Good hard-hitting poem, Abdi!
Proofing:
Change: "Flickering at the at the end of the tunnel"
To: "Flickering at the end of the tunnel"
Please keep bringing Somalia forward in your writings, for their plight needs to be felt in the Fat Cat wasteful West!
the currency of poverty is out of hand ... keep your pen vibrant and informative, Abdi ... it's a shame a poet can't make policy for i know the poor would profit ...
Some claim poverty to be a state of mind; we must be without to be within! Yet starvation in a world of material wealth is rediculus. To many fat cats, to many fat rats, to many spoiled bratz :)
Inflation!!! Perfectly expressed in these lines.
Thank you very much for being the voice of poor teachers. I was once a teacher, and a poor one for that matter. I made the equivalent of $30 per month as salary and I was supposed to be in class for six days a week. Buying a glass of juice was considered a luxury because I was supporting a large family. However, I kept on teaching because I hoped that these children will have a better future one day. They sang for us, teachers, in Somalia and I remember this:
I can't imagine carrying huge amounts of money, and it's worth nothing. Here in America, what used to cost a dollar costs five, inflation is making our money worthless, too...I think we're headed for a cashless society, sooner than you think. Scary to contemplate. Anyway, appearances can be deceiving: having a wad of cash does not necessarily equal being rich. Well done!
(((HUGS))), love and prayer, Karla.
New Poetry by Abdi-Noor Haji Mohamed (Eagle Of Hope)
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Blessings, prayers and friendship across the wide Indian Ocean.
Fergus
Proofing:
Change: "Flickering at the at the end of the tunnel"
To: "Flickering at the end of the tunnel"
Please keep bringing Somalia forward in your writings, for their plight needs to be felt in the Fat Cat wasteful West!
Ted
Blessings,
Joyce Bowling
Thank you very much for being the voice of poor teachers. I was once a teacher, and a poor one for that matter. I made the equivalent of $30 per month as salary and I was supposed to be in class for six days a week. Buying a glass of juice was considered a luxury because I was supporting a large family. However, I kept on teaching because I hoped that these children will have a better future one day. They sang for us, teachers, in Somalia and I remember this:
Ku iloobi maayee
macallinow
Aabihii aqoontoow
macalinow
Adigaa adkaystoo
Oonkiyo gaajada
Igu baray aqoontee!!!
Thank you brother Abdinoor. Please keep voicing these important issued.
Abdullahi
I can't imagine carrying huge amounts of money, and it's worth nothing. Here in America, what used to cost a dollar costs five, inflation is making our money worthless, too...I think we're headed for a cashless society, sooner than you think. Scary to contemplate. Anyway, appearances can be deceiving: having a wad of cash does not necessarily equal being rich. Well done!
(((HUGS))), love and prayer, Karla.