MALIKA NDLOVU

This is the sounding
Of our re-wakening
We the sleepwalkers
The sleepless wanderers
Driven by a deep hunger
A long-burning thirst

Eli likhwelo
Lokusivuselela
Thina zithunzela ziphilayo
Sibhadula ngenxa yokunqatyelwa bubuthongo
Siqhutywa liphango
Sikhothekile lunxano

This is the intoning
Of ourselves re-membering
We the abducted
The aching dislocated
Intoxicated by the takers
Sapping urban spaces

Eli lilizwi
Lokuba sizibumbe kwakhona
Thina baxhwilwayo
Singcuchalaza kabuhlungu
Ngenxa yezizigwili
Sithezwa amandla ziidolophu

This is the resonance
Of our homecoming
We the offspring
Navigating decades of drought
Endless seasons of silencing
Inheritance line rupturing

Esi sisandi
Esixela ukubuyela kwethu ekhaya
Thina siyinzala
Efathuza kwimbalela yeminyaka
Sithaphulula amaxesha engcinezelo
Siphutha-phutha ilifa apho likhoyo

The string may have been broken
But this chord can never be cut
Our mother – water- carriers
Revive the sacred invocations
uMama recalling the missing ones
Her medicinal rhythms lifting the dust
Unearthing the path homeward
Ancient maps embedded in soul soil

Nokuba ucingo lungaqhawuka
Kodwa lenkaba ayinakuze isikwe
Umama wethu-ngalamanzi-awathweleyo
Unqula ethandaza
uMama ukhwaza bonke abolahleko
zingqisho zakhe liyeza elisusa uthuli
Kutyhileke indlela ekhomb’ ekhaya
Imizila yasendulo ezinze emphefumlweni womhlaba

And as we bleed from hearts wounded
Howl from the core, backs once broken
With every breath and echoing note
Each cry to shake off the paralysis
She sings our wisdom borne of great loss
Naming our sorrow
Amplifying bone-deep truth
To pierce our pain-filled forgetting
Repeating these healing refrains

Njengokuba iintliziyo zisophisa amahlwili
Sigxwale ngaphakathi, kuvuke izivubeko
Utsala umxhelo ahlokome ngencwina
Adanduluke asiphulule amanxeba
Ahlabelele echukumisa apho kubuhlungu khona
Athiye intlungu yethu
Akhwaze emsulwa yona inyani
Ngenjongo yokusibuyisa kwelokulibala
Uyaphinda-phinda ukombela ukuze silulame 

We must return
We must mourn
We must cleanse
We must honour

Masibuye
Sizile
Sihlambuluke
Sinik’ imbeko

This is the listening time, the coming together

Eli lilixa lokuba simamele, simanyane

uGogo is calling, still holding the bow
Offering her voice, knowing her story
Exposing her treasure to mirror ours
She reveals the bridge built in the stars
The past is as intangible as the future
But the earth is still beneath our feet
The water is not easy to reach
But it is not gone, not too far away
And we are still alive, we are here

uGogo uyasibiza, uphethe uhadi
Uyantyiloza, uchuba ibali lakhe
Uzibhenca ngendyebo yakhe esitheleyo kuthi 
Usityhilela ngobugqi obakhiwe phaya ezinkwenkwezini
Okwadlulayo akunakuchukunyiswa sijonge Ikamva
Kodwa umhlaba usephantsi kwenyawo zethu
Amanzi asathe qelele
Kodwa ithemba likhona, alikudanga
Kwaye sisaphefumla, siselapha

Vukani, bantu bami!
Vukani!
Buyelan’ ekhaya!
Buyani!

Vukani nonke!
Vukani!
Buyelan’ ekhaya!
Buyani!

Photos by Aryan Kaganof