Zulu Poetry | Izinkondlo | INGOMA YAKHO EYANGIVUSAYO

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INGOMA YAKHO EYANGIVUSAYO
O mntakwethu kwathi uma ngiphaphama
Ngaphaphamela phezu kwezinkondlo zakho
Ngavukela phezu kwezingoma zakho ezimakhulukhulu
Ngaze ngantathatheka ngaze ngezwa umoya
Umoya owawugijima ugijima njengawe
Wena wagijima ngemikhondo engemisebe yelanga
Kwaze kwababaza uHhemu ethi, “Yini leyaya ?”
Esho ebona umbani osuka emehlweni akho

Zulu poetry | Izinkondlo

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OLWAMI UTHANDO
Ke ungaze wangilandela wena
Imini engikuthande ngayo isidlule
Sengiwaphephethile amabhadu ezinyawo zakho
Ngaze ngayivala iminyango ngezihluthulelo
Ngokuba olwami uthando akulona uthando
Wukuphuma komphefumulo wami uzihambela emzini
Uzuthi ungafunyanwa imini uphindele emuva
Usuyakulala wodwa wetshisa izinkambo zawo

Zulu Poetry | Izinkondlo: IQABUNGA LOMLINGO

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IQABUNGA LOMLINGO
Ngenziwa nguwe ukuba ngingaphezi
Wena okhulumela kimi
Wena ongihlaba ngophawu olubi
Uthi, “Sigqili sami culela abantabami”
Usho usunginike eyakho intonga
Intonga eyesabekayo athi angayithinta umuntu
Avevezele njengamahlamvu andninde kude nakude
Aze ayokufuna iqabunga, iqabunga elihlumayo
Athi ngalo ngithenga imifanekiso emikhulu
Ngithenga amalanga alandela ubunkanyezi
Ngithenga eyami inkululeko nobubanzi bayo
MAGIC LEAF
How will I ever forget you, magic leaf
Tormented as I am by your taunts
The prodding jeers and the branding iron
You command, “Slave, sing for my offspring!”
Burdening me with codes of torture that
Sow dread and paralysis to victims
Who tremble like forlorn leaves in the storm
I yearn for a budding leaf
Whose promise conjure possibility
As it scans a canopy of stars
Biding freedom, contemplating liberation
Will I ever forget encountering you
Magic leaf

Zulu poetry | Izinkondlo

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LELO LIHLO LETHU
Kuzobe kuyilihlo elifunayo
Eliyobe libona ububanzi bethu
Bona bungezintaba ezimangelengele
Bona bungezimpophoma ezidilika zilandelana
Bona bungamahlathi ahlobise ngamahlamvu
Sengishaya phansi ngenduku yami yenganekwane
Sekuvela imithombo kuvela abantu
Kuvela bona abalandikazi bezindaba
THE THIRD EYE
You will know it is the age of the third eye
That travels the expanse of purple panoramas
Measured in infinite masts of mountains spewing
Cascading ribbons of thundering waterfalls
That splash alluring forests with leaves in ochre red
Behold, my hand prods the earth with the rod of stories
As water gushes from below
As a nation arises from reeds
And creation mythmakers float in fabled vessels

Zulu poetry | Izinkondlo |

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NABO BANGABALO MHLABA
Akayena umuntu lowo onganananelani nabantu
Yena ogodle lokho akugodlileyo
Yena osenqohe phakathi kwemikhulu imithangala
Esenguye ngokubalisa izimoto zakhe
Umuntu ngumuntu ngoba ebusebenzele ubuntu bakhe
Ngokuba ebubekele imihla ngemihla
Waze wabenzela nalabo ababusweleyo
Ngokuba nabo bangabomhlaba
Nabo bangabafazi namadoda alelizwe
THEY ALSO ARE CHILDREN OF THE EARTH
Cursed shall be the one whose passage in this world
Evades humaneness, engenders greed and hoarding
Cursed is he wallowing alone in caskets of wealth and
Counting rosary beads of accumulated cars
To be human is to humbly cherish the sweat of your toil
In measured style of decency and appreciation
To be human is to consider the plight of the needy
As they also are children of the earth
Yes, men and women of this blessed land

Zulu poetry | IZINKONDLO ZEMILILO |

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IZINKONDLO ZEMILILO
Ngizokulandela wena uze ushone emgodini
Uze ushone lapho ufihle khona izinkondlo zakho
Ngize ngikubone usuzibasela usuzenza ubhaqa
Kuze kuthi klelele nakude emashona
Kube engathi uphethe izinkanyezi
POEMS SET ON FIRE
I shall invisibly follow you into the sacred vaults
Deep in the belly of earth where you hide your burning poems
From a distance watching you raise secret words as the torch
Nay, the comet illuminating the arc to the depths of sunsets

Zulu Poetry | QINISANI UTHANDO | STRENGTHEN LOVE

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QINISANI UTHANDO!
Qinisani MaAfrika!
Qinisani uthando
Aluqine uthando luthi ngqi!

Ukhisimusi awusho lutho
Uma singathandani, singazwelani

Abanye balala bengadlile
Abanye bakhomba ngophakathi

Abanye sebashonelwa ngabazali
Abanye bayabathuka, bayabazonda

Ingabe sokhula kanjani ma kunje
Sokhula kanjani na?

Ingabe sophumelela kanjani
Ma singahloniphi?

Sozithola phi na izibusiso
Ma singenayo inkuthalo nokubambisana?

Sophila kanjani uma singenabuntu
Futhi singathandani?

Qinisani MaAfrika!
Qinisani uthando nokuzwana
Qinisani uthando maAfrika!

STRENGTHEN LOVE
Strengthen love, dear Africans!
Strengthen love
Let it stand rock solid!

Christmas means nothing
If we do not love each other
With no compassion for one another

Some go to bed with empty stomachs
While others have everything

Countless children have lost their parents
Others swear at them, they hate them

How can we grow strong
When the situation is like this
How will we grow and prosper?

How can we be successful
When we do not respect each other
Where will our blessings come from?

Where are we headed
If we have no dedication or collaboration?
We need to show each other love and humanity

Strengthen love, dear Africans!
Love and harmony is what we need
Strengthen love, dear Africans!

Shona Proverbs

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Running is not getting there.

Shona Tribe Proverb

The heart is like a tree, it grows where it wishes.

Shona Tribe Proverb

The only place that is far for a hyena, is the place that has no food.

Shona Tribe Proverb

He who has skin has meat, it’s better than having bone

Shona Tribe Proverb

He who weeps sheds tears

Shona Tribe Proverb

He who warns you is your friend

Shona Tribe Proverb

A hill is steep for those who live far off, those who leave near, play running uphill and downhill

Shona Tribe Proverb

You have no power over what does not belong to you.

Shona Tribe Proverb

Only what you have eaten is surely yours, what you haven’t is owed to the king.

Shona Tribe Proverb

What grows withers away, an old baboon’s head is deformed into the shape of a spoon.

Shona Tribe Proverb

 

You would only know your grandmother after being told.

Shona Tribe Proverb

“If I had known” cannot guide you.

Shona Tribe Proverb

The boss is always the boss. A big bird can’t perch on grass leaves.

Shona Tribe Proverb

A goat will only give birth in front of people to be protected from dogs.

Shona Tribe Proverb

Best African Proverbs

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    1. Best African Proverbs
    1. A bird that flies off the earth and lands on an anthill is still on the ground. — Igbo proverb
    2. He that beats the drum for the mad man to dance is no better than the mad manhimself. — African proverb
    3. Where water is the boss there the land must obey. — African proverb
    4. No matter how beautiful and well crafted a coffin might look, it will not make anyone wish for death. — African proverb
    5. When the shepherd comes home in peace, the milk is sweet. — Ethiopian proverb
    6. A spider’s cobweb isn’t only its sleeping spring but also its food trap. — African proverb
    7. If you do not have patience you cannot make beer. — Ovambo proverb
    8. He who runs after good fortune runs away from peace. — African proverb
    9. Teeth do not see poverty. — Masai proverb
    10. You have little power over what’s not yours. — Zimbabwean proverb
    11. If you pick up one end of the stick you also pick up the other. — Ethiopian proverb
    12. Better little than too little. — Cameroonian proverb
    13. You must attend to your business with the vendor in the market, and not to the noise of the market. — Beninese proverb
    14. When you befriend a chief remember that he sits on a rope. — Ugandan proverb
    15. The night has ears. — Masai proverb
    16. The child you sired hasn’t sired you. — Somali proverb
    17. A doctor who invoked a storm on his people cannot prevent his house from destruction. — Nigerian proverb
    18. An intelligent enemy is better than a stupid friend. — Senegalese proverb
    19. The young bird does not crow until it hears the old ones. — Tswana proverb
    20. If you carry the egg basket do not dance. — Ambede proverb
    21. The food which is prepared has no master. — Malagasy proverb
    22. The worlds of the elders do not lock all the doors; they leave the right door open. — Zambian proverb
    23. Even the best cooking pot will not produce food. — African proverb
    24. The child of a rat is a rat. — Malagasy proverb
    25. Where you will sit when you are old shows where you stood in youth. — Yoruba proverb
    26. He who is unable to dance says that the yard is stony. — Masai proverb
    27. You cannot name a child that is not born. — African proverb
    28. Do a good deed and throw it into the sea. — Egyptian proverb
    29. When the roots of a tree begin to decay, it spreads death to the branches. — Nigerian proverb
    30. Slander by the stream will be heard by the frogs. — Mozambican proverb
    31. A child is a child of everyone. — Sudanese proverb
    32. Even the lion, the king of the forest, protects himself against flies. — Ghanaian proverb
    33. Birds sing not because they have answers but because they have songs. — African proverb
    34. If your only tool is a hammer, you will see every problem as a nail. — Gambian proverb
    35. When you show the moon to a child, it sees only your finger. — Zambian proverb
    36. It is crooked wood that shows the best sculptor. — African proverb
    37. One who bathes willingly with cold water doesn’t feel the cold. — Fipa proverb
    38. Earth is the queen of beds. — Namibian proverb
    39. Be a mountain or lean on one. — Somali proverb
    40. A flea can trouble a lion more than a lion can trouble a flea. — Kenyan proverb
    41. Wisdom is like a baobab tree; no one individual can embrace it. — Ewe proverb
    42. The death of an elderly man is like a burning library. — Ivorian proverb
    43. Anger and madness are brothers. — African proverb
    44. Do not follow a person who is running away. — Kenyan proverb
    45. An orphaned calf licks its own back. — Kenyan proverb
    46. Even as the archer loves the arrow that flies, so too he loves the bow that remains constant in his hands. — Nigerian proverb
    47. He who burns down his house knows why ashes cost a fortune. — African proverb
    48. If you are building a house and a nail breaks, do you stop building or do you change the nail? — Rwandan proverb
    49. You cannot build a house for last year’s summer. — Ethiopian proverb
    50. We desire to bequeath two things to our children; the first one is roots, the other one is wings. — Sudanese proverb