Form 5 St Anne’s student, Rumbidzai Vambe, attended an awards ceremony at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre recently where she received a 3rd place prize in the 21st Poetry Africa Schools Poetry Competition English Category for her entry titled: Inkondlo Yokudumisa (A praise poem). Inkondlo Yokudumisa
(A praise poem)
Just like the sun, one descending at dusk,
We are a country slowly losing our splendour;
Our ambitious hue, our delicious majesty and grace
Are vanishing into the dark,
Scattered, squandered aimlessly losing place.
Just like the sun, one settling at sundown,
Our politicians have fallen, descended further
Down the seam of Africa, melting away,
Painting our country with deep shades of indiscretion and ignominy.
But just like the sun, we have fallen but we will rise again,
Siwile, kodwa sizovuka.
And just like the sun, one glorious at sunrise
We will scatter brilliance and blaze over our land,
And it will nourish seeds of hope,
Seeds that will blossom into prosperity and power.
This light will kiss our nation,
One lush in resources,
One chromatic in diversity,
But most importantly,
Sun-kissed and bright with potential.
But just like the sun, we have fallen but we will rise again,
Siwile, kodwa sizovuka.
And just like the sun, one seized by the murk of the night sky,
We are a people fallen, painted black with social diseases
Racism, sexism, classism.
But no night sky is truly ever dark,
Let the youth be the light, the stars, like sequins in the night sky,
We will do better, we will let light sparkle through
And it will dance over our county’s derision and dishonour.
And just like the sun, one dazzling with hope at sunrise,
Light will shine through,
It will give way to a new music; one with a robust rhythm and harmony
One that carries a powerful new melody,
One mesmerizing with a tune of promise and prospect.
We will be the light.
No longer tainted; no longer an abyss of black.
Because just like the sun, we have fallen but we will rise again,
Siwile, kodwa sizovuka.
The direct translation of "Siwile, kodwa sizovuka" is "We have fallen, but we will rise".
News supplied by St Anne's Diocesan College.
