Bulsho Society

Bulsho

Talooy go’an baydahaa
Xujooy taran bedenbedkaa
Hawooy balaggaa furfuran
Sengow dhimay badalligaa
Biddoow camalkaa ku sheeg
Badeey adigana muggaa
Hirkaagiyo baaxaddii
Buraashad miyaan ku dhuray
Ballaadhkiyo mowjaddii
Bilaale miyaan dardaray
Shantaa hore bidix lisee
 
Caroog kulul baa balwadey
Babtiisii baa la naxay
Dad baa isu soo bulladay
Dhankee babbisadu jirtaa
Baquhu yuu saaran yahay
Ninkee boholaha Xargaga
Balbalo u daboolan tahay
 
Bulshaale wad buu sidaa
Bahdoon buu maaggan yahay
Ul boocuu ugu tukubay
Berdaa lagu kala negaa
Dhexdoodii buu ka baxay
Dhammaa beydbeydsigii
Ban weyn baa layska helay
Fallaadhuhu gun iyo baar
Bartii shiishkay hayaan
Biciidkuna wuu arkaa
Xaggeese la beegsadaa
Badbaado miyay dhacdaa
Belaaydu yaab lahaa
Wax bay buun buunisaa
Nin jeeday bararisaa
Shantaana ballaysinkii dheh
 
Bulshoy adigaa milga leh
Ninkii boojimo ku yidhi
Shalaad barataannu nidhi
Bayluulida haw furfurin
Bariidana kaama geyo
 
Ninkii ballankaaga qaaday
Ka baaqday xilkaad u dhiibtay
Ka baydhay ujeedadaada
Ku boobay adoo sabool ah
Ku wiirsaday baaba’aaga
Adoo bogan waayey taada
Ninkii u buseelay raaxo
Huwaday bulbushii libaaxa
Buruudkiyo shaashka qaatay
U booday cirkaa dusheenna
Bilkeeday laboontidiisa
Buurtuu koray waarin mayso
Heddiisana baajin mayso
Kub iyo bawduu ka jabi
 
Shantaana umal fool bashiishtay
Berdaanka xusuusta ii dheh
 
Bulshooy adigay boqraday
Beerkayga adaa gogladey
Bogeyga adaa huwadey
wadnaha adigaa barkaday
bishmaha adigaa furfura
Markii lagu bililiqaysto
Markii baaqagu yeedho
Ayaan boholyoow gabyaa
Dareenku baraarugaa
 
Bulshooy adigay boqrday
Adaa bili igu shakalay
Baruudka adaygu xidhay
Haddaan ahay wiil bir kulul
Burjiga adigaa iska leh
Badheedhka adaa i faray
Dagaalka adaa i baday
Belaayo haddaanay dhicin
Dantaada haddaan la bi’in
Haddaan baradaadu guban
Miyaynu is baran lahayn
 
Haddaan wanka badhida weyn
Baraarkana loo qalqalin
Ninkii cunay booligaaga
Haddaan buro loogu darin
Saboolka haddan la badin
Haddaan boqol ruux la korin
Dhulkii beeraha lahaa
Haddaan basanbaas ka dhicin
Bal iyo xaab laga idlayn
Dadkii qabay berisamaadka
Haddaan badhax loo shubshubin
Barwaaqadu tuugsi noqon
Haddaan badar loo kaltamay
Biyaha sixin looga dhigin
Basaasta ninkii huwaday
Badhaadhnay haddaanu oran
Naftiisana been ku furan
Miyaynu is baran lahayn
 
Haddaan waa kuu beryaa
Bayuur iyo ummal ku tarin
Haddaan berritiyo sed maqan
Bushaara lagaaga dhigin
Baxnaanadu kugu adkaan
Haddaan sida Baar-caddaa
Baloolliyo badowyaley
Naftaadu ku ciil belbelin
Qabiilka haddaan la bilin
Haddaan boodhka laga tuntumin
Haddaan is bahaysigeenna
is biirsiga wada-jirkaaga
Budh iyo xoog lagu furfurin
Bartaada haddaan la dhicin
Bukaanka haddaan la nicin
Haddaan bogso lagu daweyn
Miyaynu is baran lahayn
 
Barbaarta haddaan la layn
Billaawuhu dhiig matagin
Ninkii ku bud dhigi lahaa
Haddaan baqayuhu ka lalin
Halyeyga badbaadadaada
Haddaan bahaluhu ku shirin
Haddaan bir ma geydadaada
rasaas loo berentensiin
Waraabuhu baan ka dhigan
Baroorta qofkii lahaa
Haddaanu u rogan bil-khayr
Belaayo xijaab ka dhigan
Wixii hadhay baylahdaada
Haddaan buntukh loogu talin
xanuun lagu baraq nuglayn
Nin bayr lihi salow ku gelin
Miyaynu is baran lahayn
 
Basaas iyo oon dartii
Haddaan dhulku baali noqon
Haddaan sida bagagidii
Banaadir indhuu ka nixin
Bariiso haddaan la qixin
Boqoolku is daba taxnaan
Bugaan bugtu gelin Xijaas
Badroolka haddaan la yu’an
Hablihii boqorkiyo dhacalaha
Baftada lagu wada yiqiin
Haddaan baxsadkooda dheer
Baxreyn laga soo qab qaban
Haddaan boqorrada Carbeed
Amiirada baalka xidhan
Kun jeer baryo loogu tegin
Miyaynu is baran lahayn
 
Haddaan bari ina qalayn
Haddaan bogox ina fantayn
Beelahaa ageheenna yaal
Haddaynaan buro ku noqon
Tukii baallaha caddaa
Adduunyadu baadideenna
Bannaanada kaga xeroon
Boogteenniyo dhaawaceenna
Haddaan baga laynna odhan
 
 
 

Society

Wise council: you're unobtainable!
Blame: you breed without bounds!
Greed: you are unbridled!
Brave horse: you're hamstrung here!
Brute force: you bare your brainless face!
Sea of disorder: your full volume,
your ebb and flow and breadth -
could I scoop you in this cup?
Your vastness and your breakers -
are you emptied with a beaker?
But let me set this beginning aside.
 
The conch shell hot with bewailing,
its bray causing sudden shock
bringing the people together at once -
who does the fan blast with chaff?
Who has had the fear put into them?
Who is setting the traps in Xargaga,
the hunting pits of the Cannibal Queen?
 
Here comes Bullaale, threatening death
to provoke Bahdoon, walking slowly
with a branch of dogbane;
the fig tree is laid between them to mark
a peaceful zone - but he dodges by
so there's no escape.
In the open they find each other
and their bows are busy with arrows
aimed at the body's bullseye.
The oryx has to watch them brawl
and where is there any sanctuary,
where is there salvation?
 
Calamity is capable of wonders:
it blows everything out of proportion:
the man causing it bloats with pride -
and you call this normal?
 
My people: there is such a thing as society!
To the one who says you have no choice,
reply, 'You have no clue!'
Don't listen to his braying,
don't give him the time of day!
 
The one who promised you much
and ducked the responsibility you gave him,
turned aside from your goals,
robbed you when you were poor,
belittled your beggarliness;
while you lacked even the basics,
this one, craving all comforts,
sported the thick skin of the lion,
wore hubris like a mane,
jumped up into the sky
boasting about his superiority -
he can't stay up the mountain forever
nor can he delay his death-day:
his fall will break both shinbone and thigh.
 
Rage at how contrary this has run;
say that it shall be recorded well.
You, the people, chose me:
you made your bed in my soul,
wrapped yourselves in my conviction,
used my heart as your pillow.
It's you who make my lips move:
my fear at your fortunes,
my care at your conditions,
this is what matures me -
when someone defrauds you,
when you cry out for help,
a keen longing awakens my senses
and I begin to recite verse.
 
You, the people, chose me:
you granted me good fortune,
loaded me with luck:
if my brazenness burns like an iron
you bestowed that charisma on me;
you ordered me: be purposeful,
compelled me to battle for you.
If disasters hadn't befallen you,
your best interests not been betrayed,
if your homeland hadn't burned,
justice not been discarded,
the worth of schooling not belittled
being reduced to slogans,
would I be so at one with you?
 
If the fattest ram and the young lambs
had not been slaughtered for him,
the one who has devoured your house and home,
if more had not been bestowed on him
while the poor increased in number,
if a scant hundred had not risen to the top;
land which formerly had farms
not been put through hardship,
its crops and vegetation razed;
people who once were prosperous
had watered milk poured out for them
their wealth exchanged for pauper-hood;
if aid's grain had not been bickered over,
nor eaten with water in place of ghee;
if the man brought low with poverty
did not have to say, 'We are content!'
be obliged to lie for his life,
would I be so at one with you?
 
If shame and wrath were not visited on you
at the breaking of each dawn;
if you were not promised better news
would always be here tomorrow
and your needs were never met today;
 
if the dance of desire, Baar-caddaa
and its refrain 'Baloolliyo Badowyallay'
was not balm for your soul;
if clannishness had not been brushed down
and trotted out yet again;
if your banding together,
your sharing and solidarity,
had not been bludgeoned apart,
your home not burgled, and the sick
in their beds not loathed
and left to heal themselves
would I be so at one with you?
 
If the young were not butchered,
the blade not stained with blood;
the one who takes care of you at the end
not breakfast for the vultures;
the brave one who seeks to save you
not dragged down by wild beasts;
if those whose safety should be sanctioned
were not riddled with bullets,
the wolves racing each other to reach them;
if those who should be grieving
were not forced to rejoice -
and this show of joy worn as a charm;
if whoever remained alive had not
fallen under the rule of the gun,
becoming thick-skinned to pain,
would I be so at one with you?
 
If the land had not been scorched
by neglect and lack of water;
if Benadir, once bountiful, was not
now looked upon with pity;
if at dawn the refugees did not
flee in waves, great numbers
making for the holy sites;
if petrol was not fetishised;
if even the country girls
who used to wear fine poplin
were not abused now in Bahrain;
if the country had not gone
a thousand times begging
to the Arab kings, to the feathered emirs
would I be so at one with you?
 
If the Eastern bloc had not abandoned us,
the West not lured us to perdition;
had we not become a weeping boil
to our neighbouring nations;
even the fabled white-winged crows
seeking a bolt-hole to avoid
our lost folk, scattered across the globe;
if it was not said to our wounded
and our injured, 'You deserve it!'
would I be so at one with you?
 
 

Society

Hey advice! Recommending prudent future actions are not allowed;
Hey mystery! Cause to increase greatly in quantity and spread out;
Hey daydream! Magic pendants allowed gates to open
Hey castrated male livestock! You have no chance to be unneutered;
Hey male slave! Your content and character ascertain what makes you different from the rest;
Hey sea! And you are running at your full capacity
Your tides and the full extent of your widths,
Did I try to scoop out with a flask?
The breadth and the waves
Did I try to empty out with a cup?
Let me set those five above mentioned verses aside.
 
A loud cry of a trumpet bellowed in agony
Its penetrating sound cause someone to feel sudden shock,
A large number of people came out and gathered closely together,
Where the storm of the winnowing fan is directed?
Where panic and fear is engulfed?
Who is the man who has hut shelter shed of branches and leaves,
At the Bohollaha Xargaga place?
 
Bullaale is carrying a message liable to cause death
To stir up unlawful behaviour against Bahdoon
He walked weakly and slowly with a stick made of calotropis procera,
Between the two a wild fig tree was laid in order to make the situation serene and not agitated
He dodged between them and succeeds in avoiding,
No more runaways and nowhere else to escape
They found each other at a large open area of flat land with few trees,
From the top to the bottom
The arrows are aiming to shoot the target
And the oryx is seeing it all,
Where to seek a place of safety?
Is it possible to feel safe, stable and free from fear?
The calamity has wonders of its own
It blows the distress out of all proportions
Man supposed to heed the warnings swell with pride,
Say those above said five verses as something customary!
 
Hey society! You have the honour and the respect;
The man who says: ‘You have no freedom to choose alternatives’
We say: ‘You know nothing about this society’,
Folks, you don’t allow yourselves unguarded and don’t give up in the face of lacking hope!
He deserves neither courteous recognition nor formal expression of goodwill.
 
The man who made a promise to you
Failed to do the responsibility that you handed him over
Turned down all your aims and aspirations
Robbed you while you are indigent
Scoffed at you and treated you with contemptuous disregard and destroyed your way of life,
While you were unable to reach a point of satisfaction with things
The man nevertheless who made more profitable upselling for comfort,
Covered himself with thick fur of the lion
Worn scarf and gauze with magnetic attraction
Jumped so high up into the sky
Tried to show his prejudiced belief in superiority,
The mountain he climbed can’t keep him for a limitless time
He is destined to die and no body can hold back to a later date
His lower leg and thigh are broken.
 
And those five above mentioned verses been wrath over the labour pain that turned out contrary to one’s wishes,
Say that it’s an occurrence kept on record.
 
Hey society! You crowned me
You put down for yourselves mats and spread carpets on my liver
You covered yourselves with the sides of my body
You use my heart as your pillow
You are the ones, who open my lips,
The character of your activities
The appearance of your problems
To the extent that it gave a mature reflection,
When one misappropriates you in a dishonest and fraudulent manner
When you cry for help
With a feeling of intense longing I start reciting poems
The senses awaken and become active.
 
Hey society! You crowned me
You granted me a good fortune
You bestowed me possessing an extraordinary ability to attract
If I’m a man who has motivation, determination and self-possession in the face of many pressures
It’s because of you that this astounding piece of good luck has befallen me,
You gave a message of being purposeful and the quality of having a definite purpose
It’s you, who compelled me to fight,
If ruin and calamity didn’t happen
If the general interest of yours and common well-being was not destroyed
If home and the surrounding environment of yours was not burned and reduced to ashes,
If the justice system was not discarded
The importance of education lessened and belittled
And changed into empty populist revolutionary phrases,
Would we able to know each other?
 
If the ram with big rumps
And the lamp and the young sheep is not slaughtered for him,
If the man who have stolen your valuables and belongings
Not been paid extra bonuses to the awful things he has done,
If indigent is not superficially been made greater in number
If only hundred people is not put on top,
The good quality agricultural land
If not faced hardships and challenges
Plants with big leaves and the fallen leaves as well were brought to an end,
If the people who were in the state of being prosperous
Had not become destitute without the basic necessities of life
The prosperity changed into pauper,
If the people taken turns for receiving the food grain aid
Not eaten with water in the absence of ghee,
If the man who lived with severe poverty
Would not say: ‘We feel very content and not wish far more!’
He has to lie in order to save his life,
Would we able to know each other?
 
If every dawn breaks you wake up
Not given you a multiple disgrace and wrath,
If you were not promised the good news
That you will be better off tomorrow than you are today
And the eventual outcome of the experiment has ended in disaster,
If like Baarcadde
Baloolley and Badowyalley
Would not have a calming effect on yourself after the pain and the explosion of anger you got,
If clannish loyalty had not raised and promoted to a more important level
Dusted and brought out for use again,
If your kinship and consanguinity
And your strong unity
Would not be dismantled and disconnected with cudgel and force,
If your homes were not pillaged by using violence,
If patients were not rejected and failed to show affection
If their illnesses were not neglected,
Would we able to know each other?
 
If the young people were not killed
The dagger did not vomit blood in an uncontrolled stream,
If the man who was supposed to properly place the dead people in the graves
Was himself hunted down by various large diurnal birds of prey and hung him up in the air,
If your hero and saviour
Would not have descended by beasts and wild animals and made a sudden attack on him,
If your bir-ma-geydo (specific group of people protected by the Somali oral customary law and which prohibits to use any practice of inflicting severe pain or great physical suffering on elderly people, women, children, religious scholars, clan leaders, and the vulnerable people, etc.)
Not being shot with huge streams of gun bullets
And the hyenas didn’t consume the dead corpses as a nutritious food,
If the man who was supposed to manifest sorrow and wail in grief for the dead people
Would not overturn the whole affair into a friendly and enjoyable event,
And take it as a protection against evil,
If the few people remained in the country
Would not violently cracked down and imposed on them an authoritarian rule
Faced more pain and cowardly attacks
With a man holding a belt whipping and causing you an uproar,
Would we able to know each other?
 
Because of mistreatment and drying out with heat
If the parching earth would not become too dry to support vegetation,
If like a disgustingly dirty and unpleasant place
One wouldn’t believe his own eyes seeing Benadir (Mogadishu and its vicinity) and wouldn’t filled with horror,
At the dawn if people not emigrated by the thousands
And not exhausted from walking in the overhead sun following one after the other
Obstacles arise that would keep the kinship and the close connection marked by community of interests apart,
Yearn to possess and crave for the petrodollar of Arabia,
Girls used to wear the Boqorand Dhacle clothing
And were known as the calico dress
If not captured and taken into custody in Bahrain,
If the kings, princes and sultans of Arabia
Dressed with feather headdresses
Not begged them a thousand times for help,
Would we able to know each other?
 
If the East didn’t desert treacherously and make us lack a sense of security
If the West didn’t spread and transmit infectious diseases,
The number of refugees fleeing to the neighbouring countries, territories and nationalities surrounding us
If it wouldn’t exceed and become greater in number
Like the crow with white feathers in its wings,
Our missing people scattered throughout the world
Live and gather out of doors places,
If the unending wounded and injured people of ours
The world would not say to us:‘Enough is enough!’
Would we able to know each other?
 
Mogadishu, 1980
 

This poem takes after the form and much admired poetic genre ‘Baarcadde’. It was composed by Hadraawi in the mid-1980s when the poet was beginning to apprehend the dark shadows engulfing the Somali government (then led by the dictator, Siad Barre) which was riddled with maladministration and corruption. As Hadraawi correctly – and tragically – predicted, the government’s inability to take care of its people would lead to appalling consequences.