A cry from the wilderness of the Diaspora; Longing for Return
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?

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?

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

How Long can we stand

The merchants of our misery
In Nairobi and New York

How Long?

How long can we ignore

Somalis beheaded and beaten
in Jeddah and Johannesburg

Somalis stoned to death
in Capetown and Spazatown

Somalis washed away with dead fish
in Malta and Malaysia

How Long?

Let us seize the moment

Let 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

Let us keep the hope alive!

Ahmed J. Hamud
Toronto, Canada
ajhamud@yahoo.com
Author of "Cry With Me" and "I am a Warlord" on the theme of the plight and suffering of the Somali people