Insurrections I: Tracks and Lyrics

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!)