“Somalia: Nevermind”: Poem by Amir Sulaiman
black faces
white tongues
the smell of sea water
taunts with sarcasm
drink me
oh somalia
im sorry i couldnt be there for you
but while you were trying to to get your daughter
to drink her urine
a singer died
while your children
were falling from the tree of life
scattered bushels of rotten fruit
some whiter children were shot
oh somalia
only if your beautiful wasnt so black
only if you were
gaza or
libya or
bahrain or
egypt or
norway or
england or
japan or
america
or the moon
i would mention you in a poem
only if you had
oil or
poppy or
timber or
rubber or
gold or
white people
i would mention you in my prayers
oh somalia
only if your beautiful wasnt so black
the world has grown accustom to watching you die
since i was a child
somalia - synonymous with suffering
african meant adversity
an african struggling was like
a fish swimming
a dog barking
somalia meant starvation
nevermind the magic in your poetry
or
the glowing saints rising from your lands like a thousand moons
nevermind the beauty of your beaches
or
the utter perfection in the hips of your women
oh somalia
only if you didnt wear the resemblance of eve
like an ornate funeral shroud
we wouldnt see you as our sin
and avert our gazes
in shame
turn our faces
to blame
only if your lack of the worldy
didnt remind us
of our lack of the other-worldly
perhaps then we would mention you
oh somalia
only if your beautiful wasnt so black
