Black Mamba Boy

FOR

NADIIFO,

DAHABO,

AXMED,

XASAN,

SHIDANE,

AND ALL THE OTHERS WE LOST

Now you depart, and though your way may lead

Through airless forests thick with hagar trees,

Places steeped in heat, stifling and dry,

Where breath comes hard, and no fresh breeze can reach—

Yet may God place a shield of coolest air

Between your body and the assailant sun.

— Gabay by Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan

O troupe of little vagrants of the world, leave your footprints in my words.

— from “Stray Birds” by Rabindranath Tagore