Project Description
Fatima Hagi
Fatima Hagi was raised in London but spent her early years in Somalia during a period of civil war that saw her family flee to Kenya; her works draw on her experiences, both past and present, and reflect on displacement, hybrid identities and womanhood. Her poetry has been published in Exiled Ink e-mag and she is currently working on her first collection of poetry. She is the Co-Founder, co-host and producer of the podcast Between Sips of Shaah. Fatima holds a Master’s in Anthropology from SOAS, University of London and is a committee member of Exiled Writers Ink.
Roob Doon -A solemn plea for Rain
Where once my ancestors Walked for days
Across a levelled plain
In the scorching heat Followed by their camels
And weary livestock
Searching for heavily over dew rain
In the month of November I sat by the porch
amongst town-dwellers watching the children play In the rain
Splashing and rejoicing
In garments of grey
Without a care in the world
Even the adults were led astray
To join the rain dance
And in a way, I admired their childlike freedom
To laugh and play
Like no one was watching Uninhibited in free terrain intrigued by their free rein
I wondered about my own fight for Indefinite leave to remain
only weeks before they stood congregated
In the town square
With hands held up high
Like branches reaching for the skies In communal prayer
They chanted with assorted dialects For ‘roob doon’
At home in London
On rainy days
I relished quiet moments
Sat by the windowsill
Lamenting in perfect prose
And taking long over-due breaks In between each sip
And stanza
Other days I would be caught
In the thick of it
Desperately clinging to my flying umbrella Hurrying home in a flurry
windswept
Trapped between fleeting thoughts
And the everyday flow of life
There was something quite satisfying about reaching home
To dry by the radiator
Bestowed with
the scent of
cinnamon
cloves
and cardamom
Tea infused with a little loving
from back ‘home’
To warm my tender heart
As each cupful overflowed with virtue the day slowly trickled away