Fear Is a Cow

by Ali Jimale Ahmed

Fear Is A Cow is a collection of poems which focuses on the African "condition" and attempts to come to terms with the continent’s beleaguered past, its present dire situations, and the uncertain future. It is an elegiac book, but one that does not grieve overly and unduly over the ills of the past. Rather, the collection of poems celebrates the resilience of the human spirit. This is a book that frames and is framed by that age-old Somali "Elegy is the voice of the survivor."

85 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Abby]

“How do we educate ourselves about Somalia before the shit hits the fan? Get yourself a volume of Somali poetry. Listen to the stories people tell about themselves.” --Simon Gikandi

I read this book because of a lecture by Simon Gikandi on the application of international human rights in Africa. There are many places in Africa where shit is hitting the fan, and after all, "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everwhere" (MLK). The problems in Somalia will come back to haunt us, the first world.
What was interesting was Gikandi's solution: don't listen to the news, they won't cover it. Don't read academic treatise or reports from the UN. The best place to learn about what's going on in other parts of the world is to read what they have written about their own situation.
YES. Nice to know someone infinitely smarter than I am came to the same conclusion.