3rd Of March Poem by Anele Potelwa (Unpublished)

'He that doth lend, lose his friend'

I owe this day to my mother,
the granddaughter of the AmaTolo clan
the shield that doth taught
what it means to be human
and made me what I am today

I owe this day to my grandmother
a granddaughter of the AbaThembu clan
whose teachings were largely an influence,
in me and my soroundings,
whose love was warm,
and whose voice reminded me always,
to be a child, a child that obeys
but a child that respects, himself and others

I owe this day to my greatgrandfather, John Bunga kaPotelwa, whose late son Vernables Potelwa moulded me, to be a man,
taught me how to keep up with my African identity, and always kept his distance from me,
Just so I could be reminded that I can be on my own, without him being there 'Lala ngoxolo Jama'

I owe this day to my village,
a small village near the river uMbhashe
far near the winds of the river iNciba,
in a portion town called iDutywa,
a warm place that begot religion,
that instilled values, that instilled identity in me
from the trees of ihlathi laseNgcingwane, to long bushes of amathafa aseBolotwa, here is your son,

I owe this day to Chief! Ngangomhlaba kaPokwana,
I owe this day to Chief Gwebindlala kaSangqu,
I owe this day to Chief Zanokhanyo kaBikitsha
I owe this day to King Buylekhaya Dalindyebo, (Aaa Zwelibanzi)
I owe this day to King Mpendulo kaSgcawu (Ahh! Zwelonke)
I shall never disppoint again.

I owe my life to my family,
the sons and daughters of Potelwa,
grandsons and granddaughters,
I owe this day!
to Potelwa kaJama, an ancestor that lives in me, whose spirit guides my success,
whose origins are the North hills of the Embu Mountains,
a hollistic territory of my natives in Kenya
I owe it to amaZizi clan
they fought all battles,
they suffered all pains and poverty,
to them I belong,
and still I survived and inherit their heritage
I owe this day to my people.

I owe this day to my brothers and sisters, my cousins, my nephews,
In distance will still live,
and the love for eachother is still intact, we love and shall forever share the great moments

I owe my love to this beautiful women Isipho Potelwa, who knows
what it means to be a sister,
who knows what it means to be family

I owe this day to this young man
an elder brother to me Sjadu kaPotelwa,
he never hides who is, preasures me never to forget who I am,


I owe this day to two young men,
Mzikayise Potelwa and Lindane Potelwa, these are my fathers,
they are the reason why I live,
they are who I am
and I am who they are.

I owe this day to the Jumba family, the Nkanuka family, with them I belong, they complete a puzzle,
of the essence of belonging

I hope not to disappoint

I owe this day to all friends
I have met and knew through social networks,
facebook, mxit,2go, my life without you,
Is a pig's brain, empty as a vessel
and lonely as a church mouse,
I learnt a lot from you
I will call you friends, even if amongst you, lies enemies

I owe this day to all the teachers
that played a role in my education,
from Silekwa (morrison) to Giya (Kaulele) from Mangindana (Job Rathebe) to Fihla and Bonkolo (Lukholweni) and to Moyo (Selelekela) , I hope not to disappoint.

I owe this day to SASCO comrades at the University of Johannesburg in 2010, I lived to be inspired by their secret gatherings at Habitant Res, ij DFC, Even today I still do. because from those, came a radical revolution

I owe this day to my ANC, my ANCYL comrades, with everyday giving meaning and purpose to the struggle for change, and seeing leadership in me, I owe this day to compatriots of the ANCYL whose journey upon economic freedom in out lifetime, is enhance by a national democratic revolution, that seeks to liberate the young lions of Africa from effects of historical oppression

This day I owe to poets around the world, from the sunday chillas of Word and Sound in Newtown, to iimbongi zengingqi in Gugulethu,
whose words inspire me,
whose wise words continue to build a poet in me,
above the discord of searching for closure,
from Ghana with Kodom to Nigeria with my brother Emmanuel, the light shall forever burn lighter.


I owe this day to my colleagues,
to those I have just met,
to those I shall in future, meet.

I owe this day to all those eager,
to persuade their dreams,
enough to make life out of them,
and be able to stand up and surrogate positice change,
to their lives, and those of their peers
I owe this day to those whoe never sit and complain
but see in each day, the reason to wake up and look for a job, or gp to school,

I hope not to disappoint

I owe this day to Oliver Tambo,
I owe this day to Thabo Mbeki.
African leaders of change.

I owe this day to mothers who continue to love their young ones, in spite of many judgements from humans like me,
birth is not a sin, rejecting birth is.
I owe this day fathers, real man who never choose to run away from responsibility

I owe this day to myself
I hope not to disappoint

And I hope not to disappoint.