Nkululeko Mdudu

I knew what you did to me,
But I didn't know why;
So I labelled It Love,
And I let It lie...
...

When this head
of black strings turns grey
When this spring
September turns to chilly May
...

Yeyiphi eyona nzala kaXhosa?
Besifudula sineeNkomo,
Bafika basinika iiBhokhwe.
Basinika iiWotshi
...

Who said........This is poetry?
Who said........That the words are free?
Who said........This is you and me, not us or we?
...

Awu!
Inkomo kabawo
Yalalis' uphondo!
Umelusi wayo
...

And though I write these saddened words
On the white sheets of forest abhorition
Owing their malice to both industrial
And to aboriginal organisations of destruction
...

There will always be something wrong today;
That might have been right yesterday,
But who are we to decide what is wrong and right,
For today or any other day or night?
...

Mntwana weNkosi
ndikuthanda ngako konke

Amandla emithi,
...

Behold, a marvelous sight!
A handsome Boy from morning to night,
Self-reliant, self dependant and oh so brave.
No one's king and no one's knave.
...

Shh...
silence sweeps the crowd
of anxious faces
waiting to see
...

We tend to reduce things:
Books to pages,
Sentences to words,
Eaons to ages.
...

Miles of sand and stone. A sight alone.
Mountains of mist. Alone I list.
The sights I see. Only me.
With no other. None to call brother.
...

Young man, why do you look so old?
I'm not sure; it must be my beard,
Or the many strange stories I've told.
No; it must be this hat, it looks weird.
...

Ngubani uNelson Mandela?
Nduxoleleni ndizibona ndibuza

Bath' ungubani ngesiLungu?
...

</>Why should I write an English poem,
When the English write their own?
Why should I seek the symbol's hope,
When I've never met the pope?
...

You tell me I've changed,
I can see you are right.
Your tongue do restrain,
I do not want to fight.
...

I remember days
when I sat alone
In the dark,
with savage beasts
...

Ndincwela ubuciko
boku cengeleza...

Ndichwetha ubuchwepheshe
...

Iphupha elizolileyo,
Iintupha ezomileyo,
Ulwimi olunxaniweyo,
Isizwe esoniweyo.
...

Love is a different thing
A funny thing
A piece of string
A wedding ring
...