Upepo wa Wakati The Winds of Time

Upepo wa Wakati

Juu ya mlima mdogo
Siku moja nilisimama.
Nikatazama chini ziwani, siku
Ya dhoruba. Halafu niliona mawimbi
Yakipanda na kushuka. Yakivimba,
Yakiviringika, yakigongana na kutoa povu
Kama fahari wehu katika bonde lisomajani.
Yalivyotengenezwa!
Yalivyofifia na kuanza tena!
Kamwe sikuona.
Lakini niliyaona yakishuka kwa nguvu
Na kupanda haraka, yakisukumwa
Na upepo wa Magharibi na Mashariki.
Hivyo ndivyo ulimwengu ulivyo.
Na hivyo maisha ya binadamu.
Wanapanda na kushuka
Wakisukumwa na upepo na wakati.
Tazama wanavyojinyakulia madaraka
Kama mzamaji, mguu wa rafikiye, ashikavyo!
Wanavyoshika pesa kama mtoto
Na picha ya bandia
Au asikari mwehu na bunduki yake
Na kutunyamazisha!
Watapanda na kushuka
Na wataanguka kweli!
Wakisukumwa na upepo wa wakati!
 

The Winds of Time

One day I stood on a small hill
looking down at the lake on the day
of storms. I watched the waves
rising and falling. Swelling
swirling, churning and spuming foam
like mad bulls in a field with no grass.
How they surge!
How they collapse and rise again!
I had seen nothing like this before.
I watched them crash and soar
driven by the winds from the West and the East -
just like our world
and our lives
which rise and fall
on the winds of time.
Watch them grab power 
the way a drowning man clutches the leg of his friend!
Watch them clutch money
the way a child grips a doll
or a mad soldier grabs his rifle
to silence us.
They will rise and fall
and collapse,
driven by the winds of time.
 

This early poem, published in 1974, is of course a political allegory, like the 2008 poem, ‘Floods‘, we translated in the same workshop – both of which rely on the imagery of water to articulate their political intent.

The Wind of Time

On a small hill
One day I stood.
I looked down at the lake, the day
of storms. At that point/then I saw the waves
Raising and lowering. Expanding,
Rotating, colliding and bringing about foam
Like mad bulls in a valley without grass.
How they got in order!
How they weakened and started again!
Never have I seen before.
I saw them lowering intensely
And raising in a hurry, pushed by
The winds from the West and East.
Exactly like this is our world.
And the life of human beings.
They raise and lower
Pushed by the winds of time.
Look how they snatch power for themselves
Like a drowning man grips the leg of his friend!
How they grip money like a child
Grips the picture of a doll
Or a soldier grips his rifle
And silences us!
They will raise and lower
And really fall!
Pushed by the wind of time.
 

Original Poem by

Euphrase Kezilahabi

Translated by

Katriina Ranne with The Poetry Translation Workshop Language

Swahili

Country

Tanzania