The Tongue Is Fire: South African Storytellers and Apartheid

SNAPPING AT THE WATER'S FOAM

Mtshophane Mamba SNAPPING AT THE WATER'S FOAM (SWATI) Mtshophane Mamba, a Swati and an official court poet, was about sixty years old when he performed this poem on October 9, 1972. The performance took place at the royal residence of King Sobhuza II, in Entfonjeni, Swaziland. The audience consisted of ten men, five women, and one child. (NS-1426; tape 33, side 2) The long-eared Bhuza: When he gets the word, He hurries to his shield, Thundering shield! He is a flowing springWe drink only tepid water, For too long We have been drinking tepid water. Herdsmen, Having gathered their stock, Come to you. You are a grower of trees: Grow them, nurture them, Because the red bull of Mahlokohla Is maturing, And he will pull them up, Roots and all. You are a buffalo with horns widely spread: You gore your enemy, piercing him With your horns. You are a backward-kicker like a viper: You devour your enemy As if he were engorged By a missile. 275 276 Part Three: The Threatened Dream You are a ford with wildly falling rocks: Crossed not by cattle, But by men. You are the lofty pool at Mhosheni: Drunk not by cattle, But by men, Drunk by Jobe and Mlotshwa. The king attacked at Mphanda's place, And they lost their leader. You are a beetle with mouth widely spread: You daily devour herds of men. You are Ndaba's surging one, You never tire of heaving, You are like the sea Which exerts itself Night and day, Never tiring, Ever surging. You gathered the regiments, The Soldiers and the Locusts, You gathered them in Manzini. The men of Manzini were jealous Because their women were attracted To the Soldiers and the Locusts. You are renowned Among those on buses and motorcars That move through Bethany. You are known at Langwane, Known at Mgungundlovu: Woman of Mgungundlovu, Slaughter sheep To feed the followers of the king As they move through your land. You shape the country, You sculpted the Zulu mountains. Snapping at the Water's Foam 277 Whites of Durban, Remove your shoes: See him walking Rumblingly In the red shoes Of his enemy Mjingane. You are a labyrinthine sea: You confuse us, You don't swim, you surge, Leaving the crocodiles of the sea Snapping at the water's foam. Turn your back: Let India's mountains Strike their blow. You are a duck that beats its wings: When you got to Abyssinia, You were asked: "What do you see, Child of Ngwane?" You responded, "The long-eared Bhuza, When he gets the word, He hurries to his shield, Thundering shield!" You crossed the Red Sea Like Moses of Israel. Cold one! You are the frost of the North That was bitter for the youth Of the Soldiers and the Locusts, Of the Serious Ones. You crossed the sea at dawn, You crossed into Palestine. Palestinian women said, "Whence comes this handsome one? Handsome one with white eyes Like the women of Palestine?" 278 Part Three: The Threatened Dream You are the shearer of our country, You are like the mole of Methula, Shearing the sheep of the Serious Ones. Montgomery and his people Were summoning you, They were sending you a message: You were called to Palestine, You were called to Libya, And when you were called to Italy, Tears fell from Mussolini of Italy. All nations heard the sobbing. You move in thunder, Like the thundering birds of the sea. The cold of your arrow Is like an open grave. You are a lion that devours. I salute you! ...