A prayer

Amadlozi, we call you

The old ones
Who still clamber around in our bones
The old ones
Who’s blood rushes through us
The old ones
Who know the sound of our voices
And the thud of our footsteps
On the ground
The Ones we knew
Whose names we still howl in the night
And the Ones who we’ve forgotten
Who still watch us from the shadows
And cry for our forgetfulness.


Badimo,
I have not forgotten you,
See for yourselves.
Here is your child,
I crawl ever closer to your ears
And bring the food that you crave.
See for yourselves,
There is the beer,
And there is the whiskey,
And there is the snuff.
I have not forgotten about you.
Madlozi