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Mandhow
Mahamud
My
son Mahamud
My
very own flesh & blood
My
very own Telemachus Togane
My
ace in the hole
For
our Somali Homeland
Boss-teye!
Write
down right now
Set
down right now
My
dardaran
My
last famous words
Report
me and my cause aright!
For
posterity
For
Patria
For
Somalia
In
this long life
"This
long Disease, my Life"
In
this long life
Of
my delightful diddling days of yore I adored
Of
my SYL yippee youth lore when I dwelt in the House
of Mirth
Of
this now weary dreary dark dreadful Dubya
days
of the House of Desolation
Of
this Kenyan Kikuyu Kalenjin Kold exile I curse
With
all my might
With
all my main
Like
Layton’s mother
Like
Keine Lazarovitch
In
this long life
Of
this Damean
Darod Dir Dayoos Doqon Dubya MOD days
Of
this Hutu Hottentot Hawiye Horrors
Of
this Habargidr Huns
Of
this creeping crabbed age I abhor now
Of
this “inescapable
lousiness of growing old”
I abhor now
Mandhow
Mahamud
In
this my long life
‘Much
have I seen and known—’
Cities
of Moslems & Galos
And
manners
And
climates
And
councils
And
governments—
And
among them stand out now
These
four Somali Generals.
1
First
& foremost
General
Da-ood was
Neither
pro Darod
Nor
pro Dir
Nor
pro Dayoos
General
Da-ood was
Pro
Patria
Pro
Somalia
General
Da-ood was
The
main Mandeq
of our glorious Somali heydays
General
Da-ood was
The
main camel of our Somali Camelot
His
life was gentle
And
the elements so mixed in him
That
Nature might stand up
And say to all the world
This
was a Somali!
This
was a man!
General
Da-ood died a happy brave death
Ready
to meet his Maker
Ready
to meet his Allah
Ready
to render his account to Allah
Who
only has eyes that inspire fear & awe
Allah!
The
best of reckoners
The
most swift of reckoners
To
whom we will all return.
Sooner
than Somalis think
In
a moment
In
the twinkling of an eye
In
the flash of the firefly
In
this dark starless Somali Afwayne night
At
the last trump
Mandhow
Mahamud
Memento
mori!
2
Then
came General Abshir
General
Abshir has been a faithful friend of Rer Togane
One
afternoon
Unannounced
At
our Bondhere home
Near
the well of Qasim Adow
General
Abshir showed up with his entourage to say
‘Siyad
Togane
We
are here
To
honor you
To
pay homage to your Somali Abgal genius
To
celebrate your Somali Abgal epigrammatic wit
Born
of such breath-taking beauty & brevity
We
are here
To
remember
To
commemorate
The
Night of Power
Your
Night of Power
Your
Night of Divine Afflatus
Your
especial SYL Awada
Jàw Abgal Night
When
the Holy Spirit descended upon you
When
your artful witty dodge demonstrated
How
damean
How
dumdum
How
Dubya
How
dimwitted the dagos of Mussolini were!
We
are here
To
pause
To
ponder
To
proclaim
The
beau
geste
of your brave Somali heart
When
you spat
Awada
Jàw Abgal!
Only
tonight am I Abgal!
Into
the fugly fascist face
Of
the Arkow
Of
the Carabiniere
Of
the wob
Of
the Italian Mussolini imperialist
We
are here
To
honor you
To
celebrate you
To
remember
Your
witty tricky truce of ruse
Worthy
of wily Ulysses
That
master of many masks
We
are here
To
honor you
To
celebrate you
To
remember
Your
witticism
Awada
Jàw Abgal!
That
still tickles the cockles of the desert hearts of
the Somali nation
That
still drenches our often sad sick desert Somali
hearts
With
the rich rain of rippling roars of raucous loud
laughter!
Mio
amigo
Hombre!
Awada
Jàw Abgal!
We
are here
To
recognize you
To
laud your so vital contribution
To
the valiant SYL noble struggle of our Somali race
To
free ourselves from the fascist foreign Italian
yoke
Siyad
Togane!
Awada
Jàw Abgal!
Please
accept these ceremonial guns
As
a token
Of
the appreciation
Of
the gratitude
Of
the Somali nation-state
You
had helped bring about
In
that unforgettable Somali night
When
you were impeccable
When
you displayed uncommon courage
Under
fire
Under
pressure
Under
fascist Italian torture
When
you showed the whole world
What
a Somali can do
When
a Somali makes up his mind
That
he belongs
To
Allah
To
his Prophet Muhammad
May
peace be upon him!
AND
NOT TO
The
morally and mentally corrupt and bankrupt
Crazy
clannish cabal coterie Cosa Nostra called Abgal!’
3
Then
came
General
Siyad
Better
know to my generation
By
his moniker
Afwayne
Or
Mighty
Mouth
One
afternoon
Unannounced
At
our Bondhere home
Near
the well of Qasim Adow
General
Mighty Mouth showed up with his entourage to say:
‘Siyad
Sami
My
namesake
My
friend
I
can’t forget that
For
years
When
I first wandered into Mogadishu from the Ogaden
desert
When
I was a penniless beggar with not even a pot to
piss in
When
I was a poor friendless Ogaden refugee
When
I was a soldier-cum-flunky-cum-snitch
For
fascist Mussolini Imperial Italy
When
I depended on the kindness of strangers
Like
you
You
were hospitable to me
You
were humane to me
You
did not hold it against me that I was
What
I was born to be
A
Darod Marehan
And
not an Abgal Osman like you
You
treated me the way
A
Somali who is Gob treats another Somali
You
took me in
You
fed me free
At
your always welcome Abgal table
In
your restaurant
At
Tran
School
In
Mogadishu’s Hamar Jab-jab
I
can’t forget that
I
am mot an ingrate
Like
most Somalis
That
is why I always overrule Dafle
My
Dhulbahante Son-in-law
Who
is always itching
To
snatch you
To
stick you into one of his dreadful dungeons
Till
kingdom come
To
keep company with your bosom buddy
The
Majerten General Abshir
And
throw away the key
But
now
Siyad
Togane
I
do not trust you!
For
all your friends are now
Majerten!
My
formidable foes
Who
will never rest
As
long as a Marehan
Like
me
Is
lording it over them
But
now
Siyad
Togane
I
do not trust you!
All
your cronies are now
Majerten!
You
hold me personally in such utter contempt
That
you are now refusing to call yourself
Siyad
like me
That
you now call yourself
Sa-eed
instead of Siyad!
Because
you refuse to be
My
sami!
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