Kizuizini In Prison (Kizuizini)

Kizuizini

Nikiwa na njaa na matambara mwilini
          nimehudumika kama hayawani
Kupigwa na kutukanwa
          kimya kama kupita kwa shetani.
Nafasi ya kupumzika hakuna
          ya kulala hakuna
          ya kuwaza hakuna.
Basi kwani hili kufanyika.
Ni kosa gani lilotendeka
Liloniletea adhabu hii isomalizika?
 
Ewe mwewe urukae juu mbinguni
          wajua lililomo mwangu moyoni.
Niambie: pale mipunga inapopepea
           ikitema miale ya jua
Mamaangu bado angali amesimama akinisubiri?
Je nadhari yake hujitokeza usoni
           ikielekea huku kizuizini?
 
Mpenzi mama, nitarudi nyumbani
Nitarudi kama hata ni kifoni
Hata kama maiti yangu imekatikakatika
           vipande elfu, elfu kumi
           Nitarudi nyumbani
Nikipenya kwenye ukuta huu
nikipitia mwingine kama shetani,
Nitarudi mpenzi mama ....
                                      hata kama ni kifoni.
 

In Prison (Kizuizini)

Hungry and in rags
          treated like an animal
Beaten and insulted
          silenced as though Satan walked past
no chance to rest
          no chance to sleep
          no chance to think
What possible mistakes could I have made
to deserve this torment?
 
Falcon flying in the sky
          you know what's in my heart
Tell me: where rice plants wave in the wind
          glinting in the sun
does my mother still stand and wait for me?
Does she still turn her gaze
towards me in prison?
 
Dear mother, I will come home
I will come back even in death
Even if my corpse is cut
           into thousands of pieces
I will come home
Passing through this wall
going through another like a spirit
I will come home, dear mother...
                                               even in death.
 

In Detention

Having hunger and rags on my body
          I have been served like beast/brute/animal/idiot
Beaten and insulted
          silent as if passed by by a devil.
A possibility to rest is not there
          [a possibility] to sleep is not there
          [a possibility] to think is not there.
So because/since this is done.
Which mistake that has been made
Has brought me this punishment that does not finish?
 
You kite who fly up in the sky
          you know that which is in my heart.
Tell me:  there where rice plants sway [in the wind]
          reflecting the rays of sun
Would my mother still be standing and waiting for me?
Does the gaze appear on her face
directed here in detention?
 
Beloved mother, I will return home
I will return even if in death
Even if my corpse is cut
          into thousand, tens of thousands pieces
          I will return home
Penetrating through this wall
I will pass through another [wall] like devil.
I will return beloved mother ….
                                           even if in death.
 

We’ve translated two poems by Alamin Mazrui which, in English, have the title ‘In Prison’ even though, in Swahili, they have different titles, ‘Kizuizini’ (this poem) and ‘Kifungoni’ (the other). However, both words are best translated as ‘In Prison’, so we’ve decided to leave them and to distinguish between them by appending the Swahili title to the version in English.

Sarah Maguire, Workshop Facilitator

Original Poem by

Alamin Mazrui

Translated by

Katriina Ranne with The Poetry Translation Workshop Language

Swahili

Country

Kenya