Poem
Dion Nkomo
Dawn of civilization
They say we know no peaceWe only know cannibalism
But they do not even question their thinking!
They have no morals
They see sticks in our eyes
When logs block their eyes!
This offspring of Satan, is it not the one with verbal diarrhoea?
Insisting the creator is the progenitor of discrimination!
They swept us off our ancestors’ land
And wreaked on us all manner of violence
They swept people into the desert
Where only weeds grow and tsetse breed!
They turned people into their donkeys and dogs
Insulting the grey-haired citizens
This is a long painful story
I wish grandfather was here to relate it all
Like the typical history that needs to be told and taught
I could read it in books
But the books are many and written by this same cruel breed
I do not feel like reading them at all
Because they diminish us to the dust
And turn us into draught beasts skinning us among rubbish.
Oh only if Mthwakazi could gather together
And listen quietly to my story
And put her heads together
So we could all be armed orally
And get armed through the pen
To relate and rewrite our tale
So we could protect ourselves from our enemies
And attack once more.
Now that we have created some new matters among us
And continued crying a tale of woe
Whose end we do not know
Now that we know not where we come from
And our own people are now unknown to us
And all that explains our nationality
Of Mthwakazi, of Mzilikazi Son of Matshobana.
© Translation: 2006, Jerry Zondo
Ilanga lempucuko
Ilanga lempucuko
Kanti ilanga lempucuko lalingakhanyi kithi?Bathi ukuthula sasingakwazi
Siphila ngegazi lethu thina.
Abazinuki makhwapha ngitsho!
Abalanhloni ngitsho!
Bebona izinti emehlweni ethu
Awabo evalwe yimigoqo!
Inzalo kaSathane ayisibo abahuda ngemilomo?
Besithi umdali womhlaba ngubaba wobandlululo!
Besikhukhula emhlabeni wabokhokho,
Besenza bonke ubudlwangudlwangu,
Bekhukhulela abantu ezinkangala
Lapho okukhula khona ukhula lezibawu kuphela!
Bebathatha bebenza obabhemi lezinja zabo;
Bebathethisa labalezimvu ekhanda!
Lindaba inde njalo ibuhlungu-
Ngabe ukhulu usekhona ayilande yonke
Njengendulo ilandwa ifundisa imilando;
Phela mina ngingayibala ezingwalweni
Kodwa ezinengi njalo ngezale inzalo elomona;
Kuthi angingazifundi
Njengoba zisibulalela othulini nje
Zibuye zisenze ingcuba zisihlinzela ezibini.
Sengathi uMthwakazi angathi gwaqa
Athule alalele indaba yami
Ahlanganise njalo amakhanda
Sihlome ngemilomo
Sibuye sihlome ngensiba zethu
Siyilande kutsha indaba
Ukuze sizivikele kulezo zitha
Sibuye sihlasele njalo;
Lokhu sesadala lezinye phakathi kwethu
Saqhubeka njalo sikhala isililo
Singazi sosithula nini
Nanku singasasazi lapho esavela khona
Labangakithi abaqotho singasabazi;
Lakho konke okuphawula ubuzwe bethu
Mthwakazi kaMzilikazi kaMatshobana!
© 2006, Dion Nkomo
Poems
Poems of Dion Nkomo
Close
Dawn of civilization
They say we know no peaceWe only know cannibalism
But they do not even question their thinking!
They have no morals
They see sticks in our eyes
When logs block their eyes!
This offspring of Satan, is it not the one with verbal diarrhoea?
Insisting the creator is the progenitor of discrimination!
They swept us off our ancestors’ land
And wreaked on us all manner of violence
They swept people into the desert
Where only weeds grow and tsetse breed!
They turned people into their donkeys and dogs
Insulting the grey-haired citizens
This is a long painful story
I wish grandfather was here to relate it all
Like the typical history that needs to be told and taught
I could read it in books
But the books are many and written by this same cruel breed
I do not feel like reading them at all
Because they diminish us to the dust
And turn us into draught beasts skinning us among rubbish.
Oh only if Mthwakazi could gather together
And listen quietly to my story
And put her heads together
So we could all be armed orally
And get armed through the pen
To relate and rewrite our tale
So we could protect ourselves from our enemies
And attack once more.
Now that we have created some new matters among us
And continued crying a tale of woe
Whose end we do not know
Now that we know not where we come from
And our own people are now unknown to us
And all that explains our nationality
Of Mthwakazi, of Mzilikazi Son of Matshobana.
© 2006, Jerry Zondo
Dawn of civilization
They say we know no peaceWe only know cannibalism
But they do not even question their thinking!
They have no morals
They see sticks in our eyes
When logs block their eyes!
This offspring of Satan, is it not the one with verbal diarrhoea?
Insisting the creator is the progenitor of discrimination!
They swept us off our ancestors’ land
And wreaked on us all manner of violence
They swept people into the desert
Where only weeds grow and tsetse breed!
They turned people into their donkeys and dogs
Insulting the grey-haired citizens
This is a long painful story
I wish grandfather was here to relate it all
Like the typical history that needs to be told and taught
I could read it in books
But the books are many and written by this same cruel breed
I do not feel like reading them at all
Because they diminish us to the dust
And turn us into draught beasts skinning us among rubbish.
Oh only if Mthwakazi could gather together
And listen quietly to my story
And put her heads together
So we could all be armed orally
And get armed through the pen
To relate and rewrite our tale
So we could protect ourselves from our enemies
And attack once more.
Now that we have created some new matters among us
And continued crying a tale of woe
Whose end we do not know
Now that we know not where we come from
And our own people are now unknown to us
And all that explains our nationality
Of Mthwakazi, of Mzilikazi Son of Matshobana.
© 2006, Jerry Zondo
Sponsors
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère