Women's Month Anthem

Ma … Ma Greeting from the womb of Africa - Greetings from the cradle of humankind! Greeting from the land of y(our) forbears! Greetings from the soil that birthed minerals owned by others while her children fight over left overs! Greeting from Motherland! Greeting Healer amongst Healers from the land of plenty! Greetings from the source of human civilisation! Greetings from the womb that produced great Kings and Queens! Greetings Queen Mothers! Greeting Prophets! Greeting Living Ancestors! Greeting God of all Creations! Greeting to All your Ancestors known and unknown! Seen and unseen! Heard and unheard! Living and lifeless! Touched and untouchable! Reached and unreachable! Vocal and voiceless! Praised and unpraised! Soiled and unsoiled! Pardoned and unpardoned! Persecuted and unpersecuted Recognised and unrecognised! Claimed and unclaimed! Named and unnamed! Born and unborn! Forgotten and unforgotten! Spoken off and unspoken off! Buried and unburied! Chained and unchained! Enslaved and unslaved! Molested and unmolested! Accounted for and unaccounted for! Fetched unfetched! Understood misunderstood! Worshiped unworshipped! Mortalised and immortalised! Served and unserved! Delivered and undelivered! Valued and undervalued! Remembered and unremembered! Discovered and undiscovered! Buried and unburied! Initiated and uninitiated! Wounded and unwounded! Tortured and untortured! Welcomed and unwelcome! Bloodied and unbloodied! Detained and undetained! Paired and unpaired. Hailed and unhailed! Whipped and unwhipped! Shipped ahoy and unshipped ahoy! Soiled and unsoiled! Killed as kids! Tortured as teenagers, Artists and architects! Scientists and saints! Healers and health givers! Pioneers and Professors! Intellectuals and innovators! Deity and Dreamers! Mentioned and unmentionable! To one and all! If only your frame could talk Give hint that she vibrates Within the same frequencies As mine And that of the Gods Known and unknown Speak directly to me What would she input? Don’t mean your original you Your own identity For I have grown to know your voice This is not about the you in you Voice I am referring to is your DNA Chanting echoes heard and unheard Impressions of your genetic factor Accent from within without your open-air voice Anatomy where all of your own strength Flows and flow nonstop Universe touchable and untouchable Epitome of gracefulness University of Ubuntu cradle of everlasting love An orchestra that belts soundless Yet serenading sounds Today I am not about the energy That wrapped me around Celebrating my being Don’t need that species Heard enough from that fountain of love Life that brought me here Has been voice of reason for years Connect not with me in your person But, as speck of dense dust … that soulful source of life What will your frame say? Layer upon layers of flesh that forms you Effigy I had grown to know No … not your physical soul Can fully relate to that character All I want to eavesdrop is Spirit outside of your physical soul Bones those that pushed mountains To make this world a better place I shudder to think What would heartbeat of your pores Whisper to me What would your vibrating bloodstream say What will the relish sacred sanctuary Say to me I speak here of arteries of your heart The mother of all channels Unknown yet known foundation That forms a part of you Specimen that has never spoken to me But, has since I was born spoke a language Of love and offered lessons to be learned Want t speak to the essence of life Sculpture that forms you as an offspring What would your well of wisdom Share with me this time I mean your edifying outer skins mountain of your membrane Soft as your soothing smile And sweet as the sunrays Yet stern as your backbones Bones … bones of bones Built to hold the whole wide world I mean I want to converse with grain Which forms crust of mother earth The core of your existential Nerves that never complained Living tomb that honoured its commitment The genesis of your cavity That remained a noble nurturer Committed to its contract Support veneer that kept on moving Even when it’s the best and worst of times A catalyst that put me to sleep Strong human nature vessel That refused to cow and be conquered The very arable womb of the world Veins that coursed blood of royalty That watched over me around the clock Work itself to a point of weariness Every hour, second and minute Woke at night to hush … hush me Day in and day out Walk amid the storm of trepidation Work at home to keep the fire burning All seasons of the year Work for thankless employers Come rain or shine Walk on thorns and let her skin rip From dawn to dusk to see us through life Like Angels and Gods and Goddesses You Peel your gentle skin for my sake Pull your fragile body apart to satisfy daddy Put hours aside to put me to sleep Promise and keep to your promise Piece by piece tore yourself Planning a better tomorrow Pumping pushing itself to the extreme Never gave up Never gave in Noble nurture Surrender your life Soul with script of stories of pain Told and untold Bearing signatures of Pleasure seen and unseen How do I speak to the breasts? Suckled to a point of no return Yet giving and giving on my demand Because your beautiful figure Has been anything but a workhorse Light to those in search of illumination Happy Women’s Day everyday © 2018 Zanele Mashinini