Letter From Minnesota:
Elegy For Renee Nicole Good
Ahmed Ismail Yusuf Asks Us All to Say Her Name and Say It Firm
“Ooga Magaceeda: Renee Nicole Good”
Axmed Ismaaciil Yuusuf
Ma maageen aduunyada haddaan laga musuugeyne
Maskii ICE miyaa nalagu miray oo melegga noo keeney
Ma moogine nafteedii Renee (Reneey) minit (minute) miyey seegtay
Oo madaxa meeshii xustiga dhiiggii laga miirmay
Megligii rasaaseed miyaa maydhay medbakeeda
Maankii rasaysnaa miiyaa miino lagu daaqay
Mashiinkii cadaawaha miyaa muruqyaadii seexshey
Mindi aan maldahanayn miyaa murugo soo hoysey.
Mid kalena ku tooshee haddaan miinka ka higgadsho
Oo ku mutihiye maansada halkay mirtay laabtaydu
Bal maqlaay midhkani waa mid odhan ooga magaceed e
Maraday xidhnayd iyo mankay muunadda u haysey
Mudaneey carruurtay dhashay iyo midhaha ay dhaaftay
Inkastaanay maantadatan hayn malab jecaylkeeda
Ma masuugin mahad hooyadood lagu majeertaaye
Martiyi maayaan miiddii kalgacal muxubadeediiyey
Maashaa Alle hooyadood waa lagu majeertaye.
Mid kalena ku tooshee haddaan miinka ka higgadsho
Oo ku mutihiye maansada halkay mirtay laabtaydu
Bal maqlaay midhkani waa mid yidhi ooga maraggeed e
Ma tashade Tarum (Trump) baa makalay muunad Aadane e
Maqsul buu ku riday maanka iyo meherdiisiiye
Reneeyey (Renee) aadoo mootan baad maamus dheertahye
Aan marsayo magacaagan mudan waa musbaax hob (hope) ahe
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“Say Her Name and Say it Firm: Renee”
by Ahmed Ismail Yusuf (this elegy is translated from Somali)
I would not be mad at the world if it had not been degraded
The serpent ICE was let loose on us, dealing death
So we know Renee Nicole Good’s life was snuffed out less than a minute
On the head where the brain is housed, liters of blood were let out
Alas, showering her with bullets that washed half her face
The enemy’s machine limped her muscles
Knives of sorrow were brought with a pile of pain
On another, that asks me to care-compose it from the “M”
That which guided me through the last night’s poem, I dreamt
Listen: say her name and say it firm, say it loud and say it low.
The house she left and the life she led
The mastery of motherhood and the children she entrusted to us
Though they lost her load of love, she had in heart
Her generous soul will remain to last, soothing a bit of the pain with us
As many have already managed to mean-title her
Her kindness, the core mercy she cared to share, will sustain them long
On another, that asks me to care-compose it from the “M”
That which guided me through the last night’s poem, I dreamt
Listen: say her name and say it firm, say it loud and say it low.
Dreadfully advised Trump, he who is the cruel king
Threw all insight reverence into an abyss-hate
You Renee Nicole Good, even in your absence, have a stature that will hold us high
We shall recite your name as a sign of hope and lamp of love.
Say her name and say it firm, say it loud and say it low
Ahmed Ismail Yusuf
Ahmed Ismail Yusuf has lived in Minneapolis since fleeing Somalia in the late 80s. He did not speak English when he arrived, was a high-school dropout, and was not sure what his actual age was. Today he has two college degrees and is the author of Somalis in Minnesota (Minnesota Historical Society Press). In 2017, The History Theatre of St. Paul, Minnesota produced his short play, “A Crack in the Sky,” a memoir about how Yusuf found inspiration in Maya Angelou and Muhammad Ali during his early days as an immigrant to the U.S. His acclaimed collection of short stories The Lions Binding Oath and Other Stories was published by Catalyst Press in 2018, and The Lion’s Binding Oath a YA graphic novel is forthcoming from Catalyst Press in 2027, as is his memoir The Lion’s Gazing Guide.
