isiXhosa

Ukuthetha ngamava akho obomi kuyim­fundiso nenkuthazo komameleyo. Lik­wayinyaniso emsulwa nelokuba ukuthetha ngezinto ezikwehleleyo ngakumbi ezibuh­lungu, kuliyeza kuba kaloku liphila ngokut­hunukwa. Kungoko umfundi wale mibongo aya kuzuza ubutyebi banaphakade. Le mibongo iyakhuthaza kumntu wonke. Iyavakala ukuba iphuma emazantsi entliziyweni, incamis’ umxhelo. Imbongi isebenzise amagama akhethekileyo athu­nuka imvakalelo. Oyifundayo uya kufumana ukuhlaziyeka kuba ifikelela kuzo zonke iinkalo zobomi: uthando, ilahleko (ngakum­bi ukulahlekelwa ngumntu omthandayo), ubuntu, isini, ezentlalo jikelele njl-njl. Nantso ke Mz’ oNtsundu ayityebe iteket­eke Hlinzani nibenge nihluthe!

English

This collection of 40 poems delineates the poet’s life experiences. Central to his expe­riences is the loss of his wife and daugh­ter, who died together in a car accident. The poems express the poet’s loneliness because of this loss, as well as his love for his wife and daughter. He also expresses his appreciation of a woman friend who walked at his side in this lonely and painful journey. These poems on love, death, friendship, sexual orientation, pride of language, dreaming and leaving one’s dream, hold the sense of a traditional African beat or rhythm. Appealing features of the poems are  honesty and realism, and it is evident that the poet derives some healing by crafting his feelings and experiences into poetry. In using his poetic skills to move on with his life and find healing, the poet creates a world whose beauty lies in its form, one which offers definition and some kind of coherence.