Mazisi Kunene

Sabe sesihlala ezihlabathini ogwini lolwandle
Sabe sesibuka ukuwa nokuphakama kwamagagasi
Sabe sesilalela ukudlalisana kwezinyoni
Kona kwasekunjengako okwemimoya yethu
Yona inyoni'enkulu sayibona isiyikhwela intambama
Isikhwel'emafini amnyama isigoduka
Nathi laba sase sithubeleza ebusuku
Sesifumbethe imicabango ngekhaya lethu
Lona lase lisibiza lisibiza njalo kude eNingizimu
...

Our regiment haunched heavily on the pure sands of the sea
Watching without a murmur waves and spray on the banks
Inert and silent as the albatrosses gambolled on the dunes
United in spirit, in anxiety to strike the blow for freedom
Our sunset eyes espied a giant honey bird charting the route
Meandering along a silver line of those ominous clouds
An evident cue to resume our nocturnal march
Each man longing for the warm hearth of home
The silhoutte of the bird of liberty taking us South
...

Ngizokulandela wena uze ushone emgodini
Uze ushone lapho ufihle khona izinkondlo zakho
Ngize ngikubone usuzibasela usuzenza ubhaqa
Kuze kuthi klelele nakude emashona
Kube engathi uphethe izinkanyezi
...

I shall invisibly follow you into the sacred vaults
Deep in the belly of earth where you hide your burning poems
From a distance watching you raise secret words as the torch
Nay, the comet illuminating the arc to the depths of sunsets
...

Akayena umuntu lowo onganananelani nabantu
Yena ogodle lokho akugodlileyo
Yena osenqohe phakathi kwemikhulu imithangala
Esenguye ngokubalisa izimoto zakhe
Umuntu ngumuntu ngoba ebusebenzele ubuntu bakhe
Ngokuba ebubekele imihla ngemihla
Waze wabenzela nalabo ababusweleyo
Ngokuba nabo bangabomhlaba
Nabo bangabafazi namadoda alelizwe
...

Cursed shall be the one whose passage in this world
Evades humaneness, engenders greed and hoarding
Cursed is he wallowing alone in caskets of wealth and
Counting rosary beads of accumulated cars
To be human is to humbly cherish the sweat of your toil
In measured style of decency and appreciation
To be human is to consider the plight of the needy
As they also are children of the earth
Yes, men and women of this blessed land
...

Kuzobe kuyilihlo elifunayo
Eliyobe libona ububanzi bethu
Bona bungezintaba ezimangelengele
Bona bungezimpophoma ezidilika zilandelana
Bona bungamahlathi ahlobise ngamahlamvu
Sengishaya phansi ngenduku yami yenganekwane
Sekuvela imithombo kuvela abantu
Kuvela bona abalandikazi bezindaba
...

You will know it is the age of the third eye
That travels the expanse of purple panoramas
Measured in infinite masts of mountains spewing
Cascading ribbons of thundering waterfalls
That splash alluring forests with leaves in ochre red
Behold, my hand prods the earth with the rod of stories
As water gushes from below
As a nation arises from reeds
And creation mythmakers float in fabled vessels
...

Ngenziwa nguwe ukuba ngingaphezi
Wena okhulumela kimi
Wena ongihlaba ngophawu olubi
Uthi, "Sigqili sami culela abantabami"
Usho usunginike eyakho intonga
Intonga eyesabekayo athi angayithinta umuntu
Avevezele njengamahlamvu andninde kude nakude
Aze ayokufuna iqabunga, iqabunga elihlumayo
Athi ngalo ngithenga imifanekiso emikhulu
Ngithenga amalanga alandela ubunkanyezi
Ngithenga eyami inkululeko nobubanzi bayo
...

How will I ever forget you, magic leaf
Tormented as I am by your taunts
The prodding jeers and the branding iron
You command, "Slave, sing for my offspring!"
Burdening me with codes of torture that
Sow dread and paralysis to victims
Who tremble like forlorn leaves in the storm
I yearn for a budding leaf
Whose promise conjure possibility
As it scans a canopy of stars
Biding freedom, contemplating liberation
Will I ever forget encountering you
Magic leaf
...

Ke ungaze wangilandela wena
Imini engikuthande ngayo isidlule
Sengiwaphephethile amabhadu ezinyawo zakho
Ngaze ngayivala iminyango ngezihluthulelo
Ngokuba olwami uthando akulona uthando
Wukuphuma komphefumulo wami uzihambela emzini
Uzuthi ungafunyanwa imini uphindele emuva
Usuyakulala wodwa wetshisa izinkambo zawo
...

May you cease lingering like a bad dream
The sun in our love has fully eclipsed and is now
Dimmed footprints, poetic ink across a fading paper sky
Listen to jarring notes when the rusty key locks the gates shut
My forsaken love froths like rigor mortis exiting flesh and bone
Wandering in pain, in aimlessness of overcast day I
Flee approaching soul-shadows as the multitudes awaken
- chewing sour cud like love banished to solitary Richtersveld -
...

O mntakwethu kwathi uma ngiphaphama
Ngaphaphamela phezu kwezinkondlo zakho
Ngavukela phezu kwezingoma zakho ezimakhulukhulu
Ngaze ngantathatheka ngaze ngezwa umoya
Umoya owawugijima ugijima njengawe
Wena wagijima ngemikhondo engemisebe yelanga
Kwaze kwababaza uHhemu ethi, "Yini leyaya ?"
Esho ebona umbani osuka emehlweni akho
...

When I came to my senses, sweetheart
I only recall the beaded pillows of poetry
A hundred stitches, inscriptions of passion
Scattered like fertilised embryos in the wind
Lavitating like a racing horse chasing sun
And Hhemu exclaimed, "What is that flash ?"
As the bold bolt of your gaze knocked me senseless
...