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AN ELEGY
FOR YUM YUM
I weep for Adonais—he is dead! O, weep for Adonais! though our tears Thaw not the frost that binds so dear a head! —Shelley
1
O, death, may your name perish! Though we are all bound Deathward Godward Homeward Death Our inevitable host Noseless one Death Is Yum Yum really no more with us In the light of the living Is Yum Yum The genius that wore the mantle That covers the shame of us naked Somalis Really laid low down In the grave I weep for Yum Yum—he is dead! O, weep for Yum Yum! though our tears Thaw not the frost that binds so dear a head!
11
Dear dusty grave Ages ago, The Sayyid And now This morning Dumb with grief Gone gaga with grief Am I giving sorrow sword words Over the grave Where my friend, Yum Yum lies I weep for Yum Yum—he is dead! O, weep for Yum Yum! though our tears Thaw not the frost that binds so dear a head!
111
O, history! How you hijack whore and hajji and hakim How you never grow up How you never come of age How you never age How you never act your age How you always rage How you always hog the stage Did you finally overthrow Your Yum Yum who girded up his loin cloth To trace your blood soaked Somali steps How did our Galol tree Yum Yum Deserve to disappear without a trace I weep for Yum Yum—he is dead! O, weep for Yum Yum! though our tears Thaw not the frost that binds so dear a head!
IV
O, Gob tree! People pick up your scattered berries But pray tell me How does one get over How does one sleep How does one pick the brain of Yum Yum When death has just bashed in The teeming brain of Yum Yum Who had yet to glean so much more From our Somali years of yore From our Somali years of lore I weep for Yum Yum—he is dead! O, weep for Yum Yum! though our tears Thaw not the frost that binds so dear a head!
V
O, thankless Muses! Where is Yum Yum The wit that loved you so Your right hand man Your factotum Your gofer Your must-go-to man Whom Death has just removed to the hereafter In your daze In your amaze Dress anyhow Wear your epaulets of aghast grief Sing your despair & dejection In mighty ululating long lofty lines of alliteration Standing hair on end everywhere Amidst goose pimples And to this death-tolling knell of mine Beat your drums At every town square At every sheltering tree For Yum Yum is no more And shall never return I weep for Yum Yum—he is dead! O, weep for Yum Yum! though our tears Thaw not the frost that binds so dear a head!
VI
O, pen! Seize up Freeze Thaw no more Flow no more Scour Scratch Range over the alphabet Enter into your annals' archives Lamenting lays Acquainting Muslims & Monkey infidels With your tears For Yum Yum is no more And shall never return I weep for Yum Yum—he is dead! O, weep for Yum Yum! though our tears Thaw not the frost that binds so dear a head!
VII
O, wisdom weep! Wise up Rise up Bite your nether lip Wake up the Muses with your wailing Lament O, you literate ones Who labor in ordered word orchards O, you purveyors of our Somali folk culture To alien tongues Let the word go forth Let the world know of our severed orphaned Somali tongue Let the world wear sackcloth & ashes For Yum Yum is no more And shall never return I weep for Yum Yum—he is dead! O, weep for Yum Yum! though our tears Thaw not the frost that binds so dear a head!
VIII
O, Gob tree! People pick up your scattered berries But pray tell me How does one get over How does one sleep How does one pick the brain of Yum Yum When death has just bashed in The teeming brain of Yum Yum Who had yet to glean so much more From our Somali years of yore From our Somali years of lore I weep for Yum Yum—he is dead! O, weep for Yum Yum! though our tears Thaw not the frost that binds so dear a head!
IX
O, Yum Yum! Master of Urania! The ewe constellation lost luster and drooped The moon sloped and sank Into the swallowing sea Into the valley of the shadow of death When death had halted to hijack you to the hereafter I weep for Yum Yum—he is dead! O, weep for Yum Yum! though our tears Thaw not the frost that binds so dear a head!
X
O, you sounding sighing sea! Suspire for Yum Yum's soothing songs O, you crawling clamor-fingered breakers Break Rage & roil Rock & roll on Deep dark black teal blue ocean Upon your shingled shores For your Sheikh Yum Yum has just quit your shores for sure Convulse & swing you mighty swells O, you teeter-tottering towering torrents O, you seesawing waves Hop on your wild white horses Let loose your rock-splitting surf Split spit splutter Splash your spume & spoondrift Way out of your confines For Yum Yum is no more And shall never return I weep for Yum Yum—he is dead! O, weep for Yum Yum! though our tears Thaw not the frost that binds so dear a head!
XII
O, grave! O, you worms of the grave! O, you termites of the tomb! If you dare boast a conscience Or a hero amongst you Grant Yum Yum This Somali bard This Somali pard Peace From your roaring razor wrath From your licking chops From your grinding grinders For you have been feasting For hundreds of soggy seasons On corpses And can't be hungry now For this honored guest of yours For this Yum Yum For this peerless immortal Somali swain of the Muses Whose brain teemed With ancient Somali lore With the wisdom of Punt's yore O, grave! I commend to you now His shrouded body That lies now In an untimely sleep In your dread death abode In your death bed O, you worms of the grave! O, you termites of the tomb! Grant him peace For Yum Yum’s last burning gasp His last rasping breath His last death rattle prostrated him And needs now Neither your gnawing Nor your nudging nuzzle I weep for Yum Yum—he is dead! O, weep for Yum Yum! though our tears Thaw not the frost that binds so dear a head!
XIII
As for me & my house We will sing abroad In a rue of runes Our grievous loss & lamentation To all those who girded up To defy Death & Degradation To defeat Despair & Darkness To denounce Disgrace & Dishonesty In this Somali slaughter house In this sad Somalia In this mad Somalia In this suicidal Somalia. In this Kipling’s Somalia Of the “lesser breeds without the law Half devil Half child” I weep for Yum Yum—he is dead! O, weep for Yum Yum! though our tears Thaw not the frost that binds so dear a head!
XIII
O, Allah! Now Upon Yum Yum’s soul Mercy we all beseech Upon Yum Yum’s spirit Peace we all pray Amen! Amiin! Reader! Now you say The last amen The last amiin. —Mahamud Siad Togane
Nota Bene The above elegy is Yum Yum’s own Baroor Diiq, Yum Yum's own elegiac gift upon the death of Hajji Musa Galaal, Englished by Togane who feels now that the best way to mourn the untimely death of Yum Yum is to reprise his own Baroor Diiq in this here English rendition. |