To Isabella Motadinyane who has passed on
Siphiwe Ka Ngwenya
Translated from Zulu into English.
Bella: Kosesishiyile u-Isabella Motadinyane
Qhawekazi lakwaMotadinyane
Amany’amagam’ayoshabalala
kodw’elakho liyohlala ngunaphakade
ekujuleni kwemicabango yethu
wena gugu lamagugu ngobugagu bakho
izwi lakho eliwumzwilili we-Blues
liyohlala lintyiloza ezindlebeni zami
lingithi gidi isibindi emphefumulweni wami
ngiswele amagam’aqotho najulil’awokuthopha
kawufanga ulele ngoba igama lakho kalipheli
ezindebeni zethu
uma ngicabanga ngawe gagu le-Botsotso
kuhlengezel’umvimbi wezinyembezi
uwelele kwelabaphansi
uwelele kwelikaMvelinqangi
siyohlala sikukhumbuuulaaa! Thokoza!
To Isabella Motadinyane who has passed on
Heroine of the Motadinyanes
other names fade away
but yours will stay forever
deep in the depth of our thoughts
you favourite of favourites with your golden voice
your sweet bluesy voice
will echo harmoniously like a bird in my ears
giving me strength in my soul
i yearn for righteous and deep words of exaltation
you are not dead, but are asleep
your name shall never slip away from our lips
when i think of you
a torrential rain of tears flows
you have crossed over to ancestral land
the land of Mvelinqangi
we shall always remember you! Thokoza!
Siphiwe Ka Ngwenya was born in 1964 and lives in Soweto and Orange Farm, South Africa. A poet, performer, dramatist and translator, he is on the Editorial Collective of Botsotso Publishing, and a member of the poetry performance group, the Botsotso Jesters. He has published a solo volume of poetry Soulfire Experience, as well as mini-collections of his work in We Jive Like This and Dirty Washing, composite creations by the Botsotso Jesters. He has participated in literary and performance activities in Southern Africa and abroad and several of his poems are prescribed for local high schools. His writings and performances are influenced by traditional Zulu & Xhosa Poet Singers or Praise Poets, dub or musical poetry and fusing the written and performance styles of rendition. He is presently working on a poetry manuscript, Turbulence.