Kataali Firdaus Tiyumli

LOST IDENTITY Is this our new Africa? Being a fake replica? What's wrong with our beautiful black skin? Every woman wants to be light skined. Is this our ideal lifestyle? Talking in a western slang? When did We forget our mother tongue? In the name of having fun. Are We true Africans? With our jeans on our thighs? Our ladies' skirts above their thighs? And all We speak is lies. Is this our culture? To let go our tradition? Losing focus of our future? And imitating those in our televisions. Is this How We were brought up? To fetch stones in our drinking cup? No one, but We Are our own enemies. We've not tried half of the colonies. Do We even know our root? Our mother tongue And traditional food? What happen to the storiees by the fire side? And the norms We use to abide. We toil in search of fame. The result is always shame. No one, but We Are our own enemies. We've not tried half of the colonies. We've abandoned the puberty rit

LOST IDENTITY Is this our new Africa? Being a fake replica? What's wrong with our beautiful black skin? Every woman wants to be light skined. Is this our ideal lifestyle? Talking in a western slang? When did We forget our mother tongue? In the name of having fun. Are We true Africans? With our jeans on our thighs? Our ladies' skirts above their thighs? And all We speak is lies. Is this our culture? To let go our tradition? Losing focus of our future? And imitating those in our televisions. Is this How We were brought up? To fetch stones in our drinking cup? No one, but We Are our own enemies. We've not tried half of the colonies. Do We even know our root? Our mother tongue And traditional food? What happen to the stories by the fire side? And the norms We use to abide. We toil in search of fame. The result is always shame. No one, but We Are our own enemies. We've not tried half of the colonies. We've abandoned the puberty rites.

WE ARE HUMANS We Are humans Yes We Are humans Hate us not if you can't love us Bully us not if you can't help us Think not about mishandling us if you can't handle us Don't condemn us if you can't console us Walk in our shoes for a minute And respect us for life We need your empathy, not your sympathy Matching on the road with our innocent eyes You need not a second thought to be kind And Nice We breath like you Sleep like you Talk like you And walk like you Yes We Are humans Just like you, we have blood running through our veins We have heads And in it is our brains We have hearts full of love, joy And pains Unlike you, We read using our Brailles We're not hopeless We're not cowards We're not animals in the zoo Please don't treat us like lunatics We Are humans Yes We humans... but visually impaired Mohammed Saani Firdaus Tiyumli 

this is a poem i wrote for my sick mom  (RABIATU BADAWIYYAH) . MY HER SOUL AND THAT OF OTHERS REST IN PARADISE. RABIATU BADAWIYYAH (Maiden Of Hearts ) The birds sing your name A beautiful maiden of Islam Generosity resulted to your fame Oh daughter of this land -Mother for all Heart of a baby This is not a fall Oh ladies' lady -Your beautiful Shea buttered skin Your beautiful tribal mark on your chin Your beautiful white teeth when you smile Wins the hearts of kings -The magic in your cooking pot Even in the absence of salt Beats the "gong gong" a lot And wins a home in every heart -The hearts you've lit the tears you've wiped The mouths you've fed Sings your name to "Baba" -A broken pot Needs to be replaced But an ill Badawiyyah Needs to be healed Praying: Oh lord of our forefathers Bestow on her your favours Touch Badawiyyah with your healing hands Add her another chance -Oh you ubiquitous (God) Heal the wou