Discipline Of Noticing. Poem by Abdulrauf Muhammad Aljasawee

Poetry does not always announce itself.
Sometimes it arrives quietly,
as a thought you almost ignored,
as an idea passing by like a stranger
who later turns out to know your name.

Poetry is born from ordinary moments, ideas we barely hold in mind, It hides in the dreams we chase and the realities that chase us back, in the food we eat, the water we drink, in the breeze we breathe,
even the sky we gaze.

Poetry is not rare, Attention is.
Poetry is simply the discipline of noticing, It is seeing in people what they have been too tired to recognize in themselves, It is hearing meaning where others hear only silence, It is translating the language of creation into words the human heart can carry.

Poetry is not invention it is interpretation
poetry is a addition yana wanzar da haske
It is subtraction ya kan kau da duhu
poetry is multiplication ya kan ninka fahimta
It is also division mai rarrabe ƙarya.
It takes a special mind to be a poet, not a loud mind but a listening one. Not a perfect heart but an honest one.

A poet must be strong enough to feel and gentle enough not to destroy what they understand because poetry is responsibility, A poet walks the same Tudunwada streets as everyone else,
same dust on the feet same sun on the skin same air we breathe, but carries a different awareness.

Tudunwada is not just a place It is a brotherhood learning how to breathe, it is laughter surviving difficulty, faith walking beside patience and hope refusing to relocate.
Poetry does not come to Tudunwada to teach us rather it comes to learn from us, because poetry respects origin and we are the the originals.
If words were enough everyone would be a poet, but poetry asks for more than vocabulary, It asks for presence, poetry is born when pain chooses meaning over noise, when silence becomes heavy and the heart decides to speak, When the mouth fails but the soul insists.

Poetry is not entertainment alone It is reflection, It reminds the proud to be careful the broken to be patient and the forgotten that they are still seen.
Poetry does not shout answers It brings us understanding, it heals what medicine cannot cure and revives what fear tried to bury deep beneath the soul, poetry is a bridge between yesterday's wounds and tomorrow's courage. and we, we are the poets.

Not because we are perfect
but because we are present.
Not because we stand on stages,
but because we stand in truth.
We are the poets, custodians of language,
witnesses of emotion, students of humanity, keepers of meaning, witnesses of Truth.

Because poetry does not beg for applause, it earns respect. It does not chase attention,
it commands presence. Poetry does not whisper for permission, it arrives with purpose.
Poetry lives where courage begins,
where broken voices learn to stand,
where pain finds language
and silence finally speaks.

And today, today is not just a competition It is a conversation Not about who speaks best but about who listens deepest Not about the speed but about substance, not about volume but about value.

Tudun Wada is where judges are not just evaluators
but guardians of meaning, where elders are not just witnesses but pillars of wisdom, where listeners are not just an audience but participants in truth.

So judge this if you must, but understand is must,
These are not words arranged for victory,
they are truths arranged for survival.
Score the voice, weigh the silence,
measure the courage it took to speak.
Because when the lights finally fades away and numbers are all that's remain poetry will remain unbroken.

✍🏽Aljasawee 24th Jan 2026