Nawaza!
Nawaza!
mawazo ya wachache
hofu ya wengi
kijiweni wanapayuka
ujasiri umeyeyuka
matumaini yamesinzia
ndoto zimetoweka
matamanio yametoroka
I am thinking now!
I am thinking now!
A few have thoughts
many have fears
on street corners they babble
bravery has evaporated
hope is dozing
dreams have dissolved
desires have fled.
I am thinking!
I am thinking!
Thoughts of few
Fear of many
At street corners they scream
Bravery has evaporated
Hope is snoozing
Dreams have disappeared
Wishes have escaped
The first line was difficult to translate as it is the heart of this poem. In a country governed by an elite few, where many live in fear, thought is a radical act – to be thinking in this moment is to be silently rebelling against the system.
In Ida’s literal translation people on the street corners were screaming, but we all agreed that was too extreme – ranting and raving were tried before we settled on babble, which suggests that mixture of anger and panic. Unusually amongst Swahili poets, Shivji writes in free verse, but line endings still often rhyme and words echo off each-other – we tried to mimic this in evaporated/dissolved/fled and the alliteration on D.
Clare Pollard, Poet-facilitator