NIGHT TIME IN MOGADISHU

Abdi-Noor Haji Mohamed Writer and film-Maker Mogadishu, Somalia

In the capital city of Mogadishu, Somalia, saying "Good night" is quite heavy. It is more than two words because between 2:00 and 3:00 AM the Mogadishu sky rains mortar rockets. So there is a message of fear laced just the within these two words when you say good night to a loved one. There might be a possibility that a strayed rocket would land on your house, giving you no chance to say good night again to a friend. I appeal to both the militia and the government to stop the unnecessary bloodshed and find a solution for the senseless killings upon which the innocent populations are inflicted.

Please share this poem with me:

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Nighttime in Mogadishu
Nightmare of the people
Nightly spray of bullets
The Life of a dead night

Time of horror and shock
Of war and bombardments
Of exchanging rocket fire
The hope of a hopeless night

Canons kill not the culprit
Cause tragedy to the poor
Take the life of somali children
Make death a mere entertainment

IT IS WHERE WE CALL HOME

There is heavy rocket exchange in Mogadishu almost every night. It starts when some rag-tag militia fires government positions and the government responds with mortar attacks. All this takes place inside the city and it is neither the government nor the militia who die in the fire exchange. It is the people who perish in their dozens anytime such horror take place in Somalia's capital city of Mogadishu. Something must be done to stop the unnecessary bloodshed in Mogadishu. The militia who are attacking the government should not hide behind the blood of the innocent populations and the government should not justify its ineffectiveness by shooting militia who have no known identity and base. In both cases it is the Somali child that dies in the horror and truly that is something we can not afford. Please share this poem with me:

Night has fallen upon
It is dark everywhere
Only the wind whistles
The air is dead silent

For the Somali militia
It is time to let it go
To fire rounds of rockets
To spew chaos in the city

For the government troops
It is time to shoot back
To repulse the attackers
And to drive them away

For the general public
It is time to expect death
To embrace misery and pain
To pay the price of offenders

The dead night is livened up
With the sound of rocket fire
With the screams of a dying baby
And with the tears of a sad mother
That is the Somali we love
It is where we call home

Abdi-Noor Mohamed
Mogadishu, Somalia

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