Does this poem reflect Somalia?
Posted: Mon May 19, 2014 8:35 pm
I've annotated it for those who may not get the references.
"Pity the nation that is full of beliefs and empty of religion. (Al-Shabaab)
Pity the nation that wears a cloth it does not weave
and eats a bread it does not harvest.
Pity the nation that acclaims the bully as hero,
and that deems the glittering conqueror bountiful. (People's qabil heros)
Pity a nation that despises a passion in its dream, (Somaliweyn)
yet submits in its awakening. (Different qabil ambitions)
Pity the nation that raises not its voice
save when it walks in a funeral, (Kenya/SA violence against Somalis)
boasts not except among its ruins,
and will rebel not save when its neck is laid
between the sword and the block. (1991 overthrow of the government)
Pity the nation whose statesman is a fox,
whose philosopher is a juggler,
and whose art is the art of patching and mimicking
Pity the nation that welcomes its new ruler with trumpeting,
and farewells him with hooting,
only to welcome another with trumpeting again. (Welcoming a new leader and hating them after a while and doing the same to the next one)
Pity the nation whose sages are dumb with years (All politicians)
and whose strongmen are yet in the cradle.
Pity the nation divided into fragments,
each fragment deeming itself a nation." (Self-explanatory)
Khalil Gibran (The Garden of the Prophet - 1934)
