I Have No New Poems by Iskandar Langalibalele and KonWomyn

The Great Warrior: Iskandar Langalibalele


This is a poem co-written by one of my good brothers and I. He has passed on to the next life, but one night he updated his status to say he had no new poems in him and then it turned into a conversation with another friend DK about our colonial history. So I played around with his comments and made them into a poem - the first verse are all his words, I just edited out a few things to illustrate that he had the gift of rhyme naturally. Unfortunately he passed on and at the time of his passing I decided to add my voice to his poem, and this is it below:

By the great, ever-present Iskandar Langlibalele and KonWomyn

I have no new poems in me,
they stole those longhorns from Uganda and Southern Africa
and raised them in Texas!
I have no new poems in me,
no words to bury the fallen
no tongues to utter foreign forms,
No;
The prophet Kakara-ka-Kashagama was right
I have no new poems in me
only revolution,
only prayers,
We will defeat the conquerors and restore our Motherland to unity and peace.

Fambai Zvakanka/Journey Well Brother Langa
I have no new poems in me,
only tears.
I have no new poems in me,
only memories of you;
a Lion roaring of revolution
and now you walk among the pride of past Lions
as a Dread Warrior Sun.

Fisttap
Samora Machel
Kwame Nkrumah
Patrice Lumumba
Julius Nyerere
Malcolm X
Amilcar Cabral
Chris Hani
Steve Biko
Fela Kuti,
when you see them
and tell them
you have no new poems,
no verses and no rhymes,
only revolutions.

beat the drums
of the past
to sound the future.
beat the drums
and ignite in us your
rhythm of revolution
to play in duet with the rhythm of our own,
and let's drum sky high,
hard and fast
united as One,

UHURU,UHURU,UHURU,
for we have no new poems in us
no rhyme for seasons
until Mama Afrika's Children are free.
Tatenda
Siyabonga
Asante sana
for the Sun/Langa*.

A'she, A'she, A'she.

*Langa means the Sun in several Nguni Languages.