1. What Shall We Do Now (Hindustani)
Ab tum hi kaho kya karna hai
Ab kaise paar utarna hai
Ab kaise paar utarna hai
(Now tell me what we should do
How do we get across)
Jab dukh ki nadiya mein hamne
Jeevan ki nau daali thi
Tha kitna kas bal baahon mein
Lahu mein kitni laali thi
Yun lagta tha do haath lage
Aur nau pooram paar lagi
(When we launched this boat of Life
Into the river of sorrow
We thought we had strong arms
That our blood was so red
It felt as if all we needed was two arms
To get across)
Aisa na hua har dhaare mein
Kuch andekhi majhdharein thi
Kuch maanjhi the anjaan bahut
Kuch andekhi patwaarein thi
(That is not what unfolded
Unseen boulders struck midstream
Cross currents caught us in between
Then some of our boatmen
Suddenly turned into strangers)
Ab jo bhi chaho chhaan karo
Ab jitna chahe dosh dharo
Nadiya bhi wahi hai nau wahi
Ab tum hi kaho kya karna hai
(Have your say
Criticize, interrogate
Find excuses to explain
The river has not changed with the passing of time
And the boat, the boatmen remain the same
Now tell me what we should do
How do we get across
How do we cross over now)
2. Ghosts of the Quarry (English and Isizulu)
Bhande nsi nsi
Isiswebhu qho qho
(The belt-strap is tight
The whip cracks)
We sat by the solid waste
Stacked up to the sky
Eating lime from the quarry
There was a crescent moon that night
Waving fiery banners
We remember throwing stones
This is where they shot us
Now we fade to bone
Bhande nsi nsi
Isiswebhu qho qho
(The belt-strap is tight
The whip cracks)
Ngiyasebenza
Emasimini
Angiholi napeni
Ngihol’ imvubu
(I toil
In the fields
I do not earn even a penny
Instead I get sjambokked)
The hunger stole our voices
Into your dreams we roam
No longer do we fight r march
The quarry is our home
At night we rise by midnight
We are shadows of limestone
Hauling phuthu (stiff maize porridge) buckets
Bullets we will mould
Bhande nsi nsi
Isiswebhu qho qho
(The belt-strap is tight
The whip cracks)
Too tired to march
Too weak to holler
Too weak to bellow
Too spent to follow
3. Mourning the Insurrection
They come with lathis
and bayonets of silk
as the sun beats down
its rays all worn
a one and a two,
a lean hungry ten
the red and the black
the black and the red
when the flowers bled
the colours of the dead
the colours of the dead
4. Dyani-Hani: An Era Ends (English and Isizulu)
From Johnny Dyani to
Commandante Hani, an era ends
Izingane zibhem’ isibabuli
Abantwana bancel’ ichlorine
Isimangothi inebuliser
Lethan’ izigubhu namacilongo
(The children inhale SO2
babies suckle chlorine gas
and nebulisers for popsickles
Bring on the drums and the trumpets)
CNN serves tea and biscuits in famished living rooms
your voices undead rise
catching like bushfire
they plucked strings and we danced
as night dissolved our tensions in its discourse
and in the morning
the morning say was...of broken glass
Chris we are still restless in your absence
This is the megaphone hour
in the stillness of day
hand holding stone, letting it go
bang, watching it flow
watching the blood flow
From Johnny Dyani to
Commandante Hani an era ends
Since then
Its money, money...money
5. Flowers in Insurrection (with Urdu translation)
It started from a butterfly spinning
Once
Spinning twice
Dropping dead
(Koi titli kare parwaaz
Aur maadoom ho jaaye
Koi bulbul rage aawaaz se
Mehroom ho jaaye
Shahadat yoon bhi hoti hai)
I cannot remember lightning or thunder
All I remember is the lull
Waters stood still,
The drop from the leaky tap stood still
The tears from my eyes stood still
A chain of pearls in midair
Before the flowers burst the ramparts
In what they called the insurgency of the flowers
(Na koi abr garja tha
Na koi bakr chamki thi
Mujhe bas yaad hai khamoshiyon ke baad khamoshi
Hawa thehri hawaon mein zameen ke baadban thehre
Meri aankhon se nikle aansuon mein aasmaan thehre
Gulon ne jab ghulami ki saleebein tod kar phenki
Baghawat yun bhi hoti hai)
They were everywhere
Leaping from vases
Snapping free from bunches
And there:
Flocks of jasmine
Murders of hyacinth
Parading up-down the emptying streets
The rumour spread to the trees
And they bloomed
Roses conspired with almond blossoms
The dangabane flower resurrected
The kunjiri blues intoned
(Gulon ne shaakh chodi gulshanon se dasht mein aaye
Ameene rango boo ne khoon bahakar keher barpaaye
Koi keemat marasim ki na koi kadr jaanon ki
Shahar mein har taraf looti gayee asmat makaanon ki
Kahin nargis kahin mariam kahin sumbuk kahin susan
Khilafat yoon bhi hoti hai)
And the secret ones of Qatalamba
Of Himalchand
marched off the crevices
In the arsenal:
The Orchid, arrogant
With a halo of
Bees
6. Kea Hana (Sotho)
He e kea hana
Ke amme letsoho thekeng
Le nna nka tshosa
Le nna kea tshosa
To be added to text
I swallowed the moon
Farted out suns
Just for you
I chased off the lions
Off the storms
Rode on the wings of the gwala-gwala
For you
Bonang ke mo hula ka mosela
Utloang ke mo hlotse
O lla eka lesea
(No I refuse, armed with my arms akimbo
I too can be frightening, me I do also frighten
See, I pull him by the tail
Hear his screams, crying like a little cry-baby)
7. Grounding
8. Lunatics on the Border
Radio Broadcast: A sudden increase in the number of lunatics in the border areas is causing concern to the District Administration. The District Collector told reporters today that there have been reports that Pakistani spies injected with some kind of drugs are being pushed into India. Out of the influence of these drugs they beghave like lunatics for about a fortnight and therefore do not arouse suspicion. After the effects of the drugs wear out they would mix with the local population to fulfill their assigned mission."
When I woke up on the first day: a blur...almost a blur. A boot kicked me. I fell...Night came..A fist in the gut. I turned into granite...I am strong...I am strong. I...am strong.
On the second day I opened my eyes. I saw pines...bright light through pines, light enough to make those spindles shine, then a sharp sting...hot, hot...hot hand across my face. La-la-la-la-la. Spittle trailed from my mouth's corner. I had nothing to tell...there is nothing to tell...I had nothing...nothing, nothing to tell.
By the third day hunger pierced me. Doubled me up. Figures with the heads of dogs...my mother, who is my mother, was it my mother, shadows, shadows took me in. They handed me chunks of bread. I saw a fence. I saw a fence swaying. Who cut the fence? Who cut? Cut! Who cut my border? The fence floating, barbed wire in the wind, the wind...border...Nothing, nothing...nothing to tell.
Sixth day, no...1-2-3-4-5-6. No one's face. Whose face? What is my name? Was I from Cairo? Who is Tripoli? no...tell, nothing to tell. No words, no sentence. 7-8day in the early gloom of day words, la-la-la-la-la-la through the fence, something had formed..it came to me...it stung me...Nothing to say...nothing...nothing to tell
On the 14th day, sweat, cold sweat...trembling...my knees, trembling my feet, my knees, my head, my ears...my skin...my brain...my mouth...my...language. Where is my place? Nothing to tell, nothing...nothing, to tell. Nothing to tell.
9. The Insurrection of the Cow
I stabbed the foetus
with these
I used to stab the rain with these
the baby is gone
How did you dare
grow this inside my womb?
You hear me bellow dear
You’re wrong, I ululate
Where you have seen fine rivers
And valleys full of cud
I have leaked and scorched
my dear, the pathway to the dead
is faint to see
I stabbed the rain with these
My white patch takes to flight
my dear
uNala was my name
Inala was my regiment
uNala was my name
I was too a makoti once
the cwebezela one
Inala was my regiment
uNala was my name
What shines my dear
are only stars tonight
like bats, they drop to me, to me
I stabbed the rain with these
Broken the pen my dear
Run flat the kraal
Cried by the stacks of fillet dear
Poisoned the fields
Snapped at the yoke
Refused the branding iron
Sucked up my teats
And eight-
I stabbed
with these
I used to stab the rain with these
I stabbed the rain with these
10. Bones in the Insurrection
Come...Come with me to the edge of the city
we are building there
You will not find what you seek
in the long trailing
of official cavalcades
nor in the deep green lawns of gated enclaves
But maybe...maybe in the texture
of an old brick taken from the city's far edge
we can begin rebuilding life there
Slowly, I have followed the scent
of invisible footsteps into the valley of death
I saw fleeing flesh
leaving a trail of putrid smells
under the resplendent sun at noon
orchestras and symphonies of rattling bones
Not down these pretentious avenues of light
drafted by planners
Nor in the reassuring grins of leaders
projected on granulated screens
Not There!
But maybe in the face appearing suddenly
radiant out of the darkening rain
We see who we are, now we are gone, we are gone
We dream who we are, now we are here, we are here
Flesh! The betrayer of dreams
with criss-crossing fibulas and tibulas
Pale blood and flesh, we have betrayed the spirit of our gods
Have you not seen the skeletons rise?
Have you not seen column after column rising
into the shimmering sky?
Brandishing glistening vampire teeth, life-jettisoned ancestors
in the night of death dances
Travelled up escalators in the malls
felt the desperate crash of the temple crowds
on a festival day
Celebrating the new moon
armies of bones rattling
more orchestras and symphnes
harmonies and melodies
baying at the approaching pride of
hyenas
Maybe...Maybe one day in the collective press of bodies
at the beach say...or in the midst of music
the dead too quietly may join our ranks
We see who we are, now we are gone, we are gone
We dream who we are, now we are here, we are here
11. The Insurrection of Earthworms
We till the land and plough the field
We cannot wait until the cows come home
no we breed
under your toes and silently chew,
masticate the earth, prepare you
to precipitate the thunder
of your own end, now near
near near near
We beat the chenda and shake the dance,
possessed and angry, the theyyam squirms
while you tear asunder and drink the blood
of this our land, the land of earthworms.
In the swamp, among the leeches
we plot and we turn the earth
into speech, yes we speak, not
on your tv, but to alter and claim
the land we till, the land we churn
the land we, not you, understand.
See the dispossessed earthworms
advance, advance, the avalanche
of our legless march, wingless flight
slowly gnawing without your knowing
at the surveyor’s lens and the prospector’s
sense of the price of this land when we
shake near near near the ground beneath
your solid mechanical counting feet
And we chew the bough bent with the honey
of solidarity while the paraya tautens his chenda
and with the crows and the hornbills and thunder-
clouds we are drunk on the rain of the insurrection
the pulluva strums on her earthen pot’s ukulele
and the paraya tunes his drums and beats
the revolution
of the earthworms, here we advance,
varika varika makkale,
here comes the insurrection
of the earthworms, the ululation
of the theyyams of dispossessed
revolution –
the rain of earthworms, the words, the worms.
12. Relah (Malayalam)
Kallum charalum
kaalil kutthum
mullum thaandiyore
changala potti
cchaatiyoti
yonam kootuvore
(O those who have crossed the path strewn with sharp stones
and thorns that prick the searching feet!
O those who have festively come dancing together,
breaking their chains of steel)
Aanandam vazhineele meentuvore
aakrosam mozhiyaale paatuvore
snehaaardram ee bhoomi
thunayaayi naamellaam
onnaayuyaratte ee manninmakkal
(O those who trust in the joy of the path
O those who sing of struggle(/revolution) with these words
Merciful is this earth
And with you are we all
May the children of the soil rise up as one!)