Spare A Moment Poem by Bashir Goth

Dear Somalis
In the diaspora
Dear sisters
Dear brothers

When celebrating Eid
When sauntering in Christmas
Spare a moment

When showering gifts
On your lucky children
Spare a moment

When you heap them
In new clothes
In Nike shoes
Spare a moment

When admiring their smiles
In peaceful lands
In beautiful parks
Spare a moment

When you spoil them
With happiness
With electronic games
With garnished foods
Spare a moment

When you drive your families
In lush boulevards
Dinning with them
In glamorous eateries
Aimlessly strolling
Aimlessly buying
In designer stores
Spare a moment

For the hungry
For the homeless
For the hopeless mothers
Hugging dead children
Back in Mogadishu
Spare a moment

When your children
Splash ice cream
On the kitchen floor
Spare a moment

When they fret and frown
Over food at home
Crying for deliveries
From fast food outlets
Craving for French fries
For hamburgers
For hefty MacDonalds
When you relent
And render the order
Spare a moment

For mothers in Mogadishu
Hugging and holding
Hungry children
Hollow-eyed babies
Hanging to life
Spare a moment

When you stroll to hotels
To Sunday evening parties
Prim and piffy
Spare a moment

When you toast a drink
And toss down a draft
When you mumble
In mesmerizing music
Spare a moment

For children in Mogadishu
In feeding zones
Spare a moment

For mothers shivering in cold
For elders cursing their age
For the ruins of Mogadishu
Spare a moment

When you ensconce
In comfy sofas
In heated homes
Spare a moment

When you turn on
Your television sets
And swap channels
On sleek screens
Admiring your children
Excited and starry-eyed
Over latest gadgets
Escaping the luxury
The comfort at home
To virtual violence
To horror movies
Spare a moment

For children in Mogadishu
Roasting in real hell
With limbs maimed
Wading through the blood
Of dead parents
Stumbling on decomposing bodies
Of dead siblings
Seeking shelter in squalid cellars
In bullet-riddled, pockmarked caves
In the lap of agonized mothers
Spare a moment

For an orphan nation
Spare a moment
For a country scorched
Spare a moment
Spare a moment
Spare a moment.

December 19,2007
Copyright© 2007 Bashir Goth