Bega kwa bega Shoulder to Shoulder

Bega kwa bega

Baridi kutoka mlima mwa Kenya inaingia
 
Na upepo unavuma, misitu ya Nyandarua ukipasua
Lakini mimi ni mwanamke wa Kirinyaga
                baridi sitaisikia
                chochote sitakisikia
 
     isipokuwa sauti ya ardhi yetu
                                nchi yetu
                                polepole ikinililia.
Nyumbani...
                kuponda unga kunatusubiri
                kuchuna mboga kunatusubiri
                kuchanja kuni kunatusubiri
                na watoto
                                watoto si haba
                                                                nao pia wanatusubiri.
 
Lakini kumfuata mume wangu naendelea
                nchi yangu kuipigania
                utu wangu kujirudishia.
 
Lala mwanangu lala
                                        lala unono ukinisubiri.
Mwezi utakapoinama
                                           nitarudi, nikulinde nikuamiri
                Juu ya milima
                mwezi umejaa, umechotama
                kwa huruma ukitutazama.
Njia ni ndefu mno
Muda ni mfupi mno
                  lakini kumfuata mume wangu naendelea
                  bega kwa bega nasogea
                  utu kuukomboa.
 

Shoulder to Shoulder

The cold from Mount Kenya has come
The wind blows, cutting through the forests of Nyandarua
But I am a woman from the Krinyaga Mountains
                 I don't feel the cold
                 I don't feel anything
       exept from the sound of the earth
                                    our country
                                    softly weeping
 
At home...
                 flour waits to be ground
                 vegetables wait to be peeled
                 wood waits to be chopped
                 and the children
                                 the many children
                                               also wait for us
 
But like my husband I continue
                 to fight for my country
                 to regain my humanity
 
Sleep my child sleep
                             sleep well while you wait for me
When the moon rises
                             I will return, I'll protect and defend you
                  Above the mountain
                  the full moon gazes down on us
                  in sympathy
The road is too long
Time is too short
                  But like my husband I continue
                  shoulder to shoulder
                  to liberate humanity
 

Neck to neck / Side by side

The cold from the Mount Kenya has entered
And wind blows, cutting through the forests of Nyandarua|
But I am a woman of Kirinyaga [mountains]
                I don’t feel the cold
                I don’t feel anything
      apart from the sound of our earth
                                our country
                                quietly crying to me.     
At home…
                the grinding of flour waits for us
                the peeling of vegetables waits for us
                the chopping of wood waits for us
                and the children              
                                the children [who] are not few
                                                                [they] also wait for us.
 
But to follow my husband I continue
                to fight for my country
                to return to myself my humanity.
 
Sleep my child sleep
                                sleep tight while waiting for me.
When the moon rises
                                I will return, I shall protect you I shall guard
                                you
                Above mountains
                the moon has become full, it has knelt
                looking at us with sympathy.
The road is too long
Time is too short
                But to follow my husband I continue
                neck to neck I approach
                redeeming/saving/liberating humanity.
 

It turns out that the title in Swahili is very close to ‘Shoulder to Shoulder’ which, of course in English, has connotations of solidarity, which goes to the heart of the ideas this poem is trying to articulate.

Sarah Maguire, Workshop Facilitator

Original Poem by

Alamin Mazrui

Translated by

Katriina Ranne with The Poetry Translation Workshop Language

Swahili

Country

Kenya