The JRB presents a selection of poetry by Athambile Masola. The poems were originally published in her award-winning 2021 collection Ilifa, and have been newly translated from isiXhosa to English, the translations edited by Sibabalwe Oscar Masinyana.
Ilifa
Athambile Masola
uHlanga Press, 2021
Elangeni
Ndicingana namagama:
Uluhlaza
Ukuhlaziya
Ukuhlambulula.
Umthi uthini?
Uthi sondela
Sun Soaking
I think of words:
Lush green
Revival
Cleansing.
What does the tree say?
Come closer
~~~
Uthando
Uxolo ‘va.
‘Iza ndiphuze.
Awulambanga?
Ndiyakukhumbula.
Awusemhle mntu wam.
Ndicela undincedise.
Mas’ambe siyolala.
Imnandi?
Sondela ndikombathise.
Ubawela ndipheke ntoni namhlanje?
Ndicela uzondihlalisa ekhitshini.
Kutheni ingathi uyagodola?
Ndicela undiphathele amanzi.
Mandikwenzele into yokuphunga.
Masihlebe.
Andiyithandi le nto uyenzayo.
Ndicela undiphakele i-ice-cream.
Masifote.
Ndikuphathele ntoni eshop?
Ulele njani?
Ubuye nesonka.
Ungabuyi eb’suku kakhulu.
Uphuphe ntoni?
Ndicela uze ne-toilet paper.
Khawundikhaphe.
Ndidiniwe.
Ndicela undirhawuzelele umqolo.
Ulele?
Ndicela undibase-e intloko.
Khawundigalele amanzi ebhafini.
Mas’ambe.
Utheni apha?
Urhalela ntoni?
Andiyi ndawo.
Ungumamni kanene?
Ugqibele nini ukuya elibrary?
‘Izobona inyanga.
Ngas’ke ndingaphumi ezingubeni.
Ufuna sibukele ntoni?
Ibinjani imini yakho?
Khawundiphe.
Undiqumbele?
Ingathi awonwabanga.
Uthe cwaka; uhlutshwa yintoni?
Uyandimosha kodwa.
Kudala uvukile?
Masithandaze.
Kumnandi ukuthandana nawe
Love
I’m sorry. Sorry, hey.
Come, a kiss.
Are you not hungry?
I miss you.
You’re beautiful, my love.
Please help me.
Let’s go to bed.
Is it good?
Come closer so I can swaddle you.
What would you like me to cook for supper?
Please keep me company in the kitchen.
Are you cold?
Please bring me some water.
Let me make you some tea.
I have some gossip.
I don’t like what you’re doing.
Please dish me some ice-cream.
Let’s take a picture.
What should I bring you from the shops?
Sleep okay?
Please bring back some bread.
Please don’t come back too late.
What did you dream of last night?
Please bring some toilet paper.
Please come with me.
I’m tired.
Please scratch my back.
Are you sleeping?
Please base my scalp.
Please run me a bath.
Let’s go.
What’s the story here?
What would you like?
I’m not going anywhere.
Remind me, who are your people?
When last did you go to the library?
Come see the moon.
I wish I didn’t have to get out of bed.
What shall we watch?
How was your day?
Give me some.
Are you mad at me?
You don’t seem alright.
You’re quiet; what’s on your mind?
You’re doing me dirty though
Have you been awake for a while?
Let’s pray.
Feels good loving you.
~~~
Amacephe
Umqolo wam uthi nca esifubeni sakho.
Amathanga am athi nca emathangeni akho.
Imilenze yona iphithana
njengeentambo.
Ingalo yakho isonga isinqa sam; ndelekelise
ngeyam ingalo,
Enye ingalo isingatha intamo yam.
Isandla sakho ndisidibanisa nesam
isandla.
Impumlo yakho ithi nca emqolo
Umphefumlo wakho uthambise umqolo wam.
Naxa urhona urhonela kulo mqolo wam.
Nokuba singaguquguquka ebusuku sikhabe neengubo
Nemilenze yoluleke
Ubalekele kwelakho icala lebhedi ngenxa yokubila kwemizimba
Ingalo zam nezandla zam zikukhangela ubusuku bonke
Silala ingathi singamacephe edrowini.
Spooning
My back soft against your breasts.
My thighs soft against your thighs.
Our legs entangled like threads. Legs intertwine like ropes.
Your arm wraps around my waist; my arm around your arm,
Your other arm cushions my neck.
I enwrap my hand with your hand. I enwrap your hand with my hand.
Your nose buried in my back
Your breathing softens my back.
As you snore, the sound echoes against my back.
Even as we toss and turn through the night, kicking away the blankets
And disentangle legs
Splaying sweating bodies to our separate sides of the bed
My arms and my hands search for you
all night
We sleep like spoons in the kitchen drawer.
~~~
- Athambile Masola received her PhD from Rhodes University. Her dissertation was an exploration of black women’s life writing with a particular focus on Noni Jabavu and Sisonke Msimang’s memoirs. Her primary research focuses on black women’s life writing and historiography. Her research is also informed by the early-twentieth-century newspaper archive in South Africa (particularly written in isiXhosa). She is primarily concerned with the nature of erasure and the ways in which multiple forms of reading a variety of texts can inform archival research. Ilifa is her first collection of poetry.
- Sibabalwe Oscar Masinyana is an academic and literary publisher, writer, translator and editor, with a strong commitment to language, research and writing across different sectors.
