MOTHER AZANIA

[In memoriam: Veronica Zodwa Sobukwe]

our beautiful mother
who knows the art of giving
the outspoken meaning in silence
after the first ever yell
of the newly born
when she had made the warm assurance
of her welcoming touch on first arrival

mother azania
your house is our home
the fixture and the nest
when we are soaring in orbit
seeking to be on our own
yet being rooted to the land
the unassailable gift of our ancestors

when we tumbled over
memories of open graves
in despair without direction
you showed the way
our way
mother azania

you supremely
served | suffered
and sacrificed

when the shackles
were squeezed very tight
on the minds | necks | ankles | wrists
you gently reminded us that
liberation does not come
for free

when we shivered
because the sun had gone
out of our lives
you gave us comfort
lots of motherly love
and unadulterated commitment

mother azania
when he held his open palm
boldly up high in captivity
having released the soil
to the verdant ground
rather to his flower garden
in bloom with a mosaic
of ideas| shapes | textures | colours
you taught us the easter experience
to admit to die verily like a seed
and be buried in the fertile soil
to be born anew
reinvented | beautiful | darkly
and everlasting

by Jaki Seroke