This Story

Bandile Gumbi

This story has travelled
With the river Nile
From the land of the pharaohs
Feeding the children of Nasser
Never leaving the children of Tanganyika
With a lament
Of hunger and thirst
As it joins the oceans of eternity

This story echoes
From kingdom to kingdom
Telling tales
Of the splendours
Of the ancient city of Timbuktu
The grandeur of great Zimbabwe
The might of the Zulu
The bravery of the Pondo

This story vibrates cosmic energies
From the peak of Kilimanjaro
To the panoramic heights
Of the mountains
In the land of the Khoi-San

This story is twin to the moon
Like nomadic caravans at oases
From the deserts of Nubia to the Kalahari
Connecting east and west
Trading in wealth
From the north to the south

This story is encoded
In the book of the dead
Transcribed
In every cave, wall, tomb
In this land
Of our spirit mother Isis
Nomkhubulwane mother who feeds us.



LitNet: 20 December 2005

Did you enjoy this poem? Have your say! Send your comments to webvoet@litnet.co.za, and become a part of our interactive opinion page. Or submit your own poetry to Michelle McGrane for consideration.

Click here to receive our newsletter - your weekly cultural fix! Check out what's sizzling on our newsletter this week

back    /     to the top

© Kopiereg in die ontwerp en inhoud van hierdie webruimte behoort aan LitNet, uitgesluit die kopiereg in bydraes wat berus by die outeurs wat sodanige bydraes verskaf. LitNet streef na die plasing van oorspronklike materiaal en na die oop en onbeperkte uitruil van idees en menings. Die menings van bydraers tot hierdie werftuiste is dus hul eie en weerspieël nie noodwendig die mening van die redaksie en bestuur van LitNet nie. LitNet kan ongelukkig ook nie waarborg dat hierdie diens ononderbroke of foutloos sal wees nie en gebruikers wat steun op inligting wat hier verskaf word, doen dit op hul eie risiko. Media24, M-Web, Ligitprops 3042 BK en die bestuur en redaksie van LitNet aanvaar derhalwe geen aanspreeklikheid vir enige regstreekse of onregstreekse verlies of skade wat uit sodanige bydraes of die verskaffing van hierdie diens spruit nie. LitNet is ’n onafhanklike joernaal op die Internet, en word as gesamentlike onderneming deur Ligitprops 3042 BK en Media24 bedryf.