Reading his verses and stanzas written in pure coastal Swahili, one can hardly notice that Bashiru Abdallah was born and raised far away from the sea shores of Tanzania. His mastery of the language is mind-blowing.
Tag: ushairi
Mfalme Yuko Uchi: Diwani Mpya ya Mohammed Ghassani
NJOO uniulize Mohammed Khelef Ghassani ni nani na nitakupa vitambulisho vyake kadhaa. Kila kimoja kati yavyo kitamsibu. Kitajaa kama pishi. Continue reading “Mfalme Yuko Uchi: Diwani Mpya ya Mohammed Ghassani”
Mwenye Wenyewe
Ni yeye mwenye wenyewe, mwenye asili na kwao
Ni yeye huyu ambaye, amebeba dira yao
Ndiye kwao alo yeye, na yeye kwake ni wao
Miye Zombi/I am a Zombie
Mama aliponizaa, alidhani kazaa mtu
Akanilea nikuwe
Akanifunza ili niwe
Binaadamu si jiwe
Bali mara akazuka –
Nduli akaja nitwaa!
When my mother gave birth to me
She thought she’d brough a human being
To this challenging world
She brought me up
And taught me how to behave
As a human being and not an animal
But then came a monster and took me away!
Dunia ni Ndogo/So Small is This World
Dunia ni ndogo, haitoshi kuficha siriyo
Tafuta pengine, kama napo, watu ‘siwe nayo
Kwa dunia hii, ni bilashi kuyasiri hayo
‘Kisema ni uzushi, ‘taoneshwa yale yaliyo
Dunia ya mtandao!
So small is this world to hide your actions
Search for somewhere else if ever be
For this world nothing you could hide
And when you deny, you’d be shown all that were
The world of networks!
Kibaruwa
Kwenye shamba hilo kubwa asilani hakunyi mvuwa
Ni kwa mitilizi ya jasho langu ndiyo hunweshezewa
Kwenye shamba hilo kubwa sasa imeshaiva kahawa
Na bunize ni matone ya damu yangu niliyotowa
Ndipo mte ukatipuza Continue reading “Kibaruwa”
Mfalme Ana Pemba: The King Has Horns
Mfalme Ana Pembe: The King Has Horns is a political satire written in a different way compared to the last five poetry collections of Mohammed Ghassani. Continue reading “Mfalme Ana Pemba: The King Has Horns”
