Best Zulus Poems
In eighteen seventy nine; twenty second of January
Was the day of a great battle and for the Zulus victory
At Isandlwana the Zulu army showed no fear
Against British guns, armed with shield and spear.
Twelve thousand warriors from the Zulu nation
Wiped out the British, a total annihilation
With such a large force the camp was soon overun
With hand to hand combat, under African sun.
Nearly a thousand British soldiers died that day
A few played dead and managed to get away
Some headed for Rorkes Drift never looking back
Warning the soldiers there of an impending attack.
Not far from the battle stood the mission station
By the Buffalo river a tranquil location
Five thousand warriors marched on Rorkes Drift
A hundred and thirty nine stood ready to resist.
Dispite wave after wave the British repelled their attack
With rifle and bayonet; they pushed the Zulus back
The Zulus regrouped and moved in for the kill
An officer gave the command to fire at will .
The battlefield was covered with the bodies of the slain
With spears, shields and blood all over the terrain
It wasn't until the morning of the following day
That the Zulus retreated and went on their way.
Eleven Victoria crosses were won at Rorkes drift
For courage and bravery; shown in that conflict
Five hundred Zulu warriors paid the ultimate cost
Whilst seventeen British soldiers in battle were lost.
Against overwhelming odds the British held the line
And Rorkes Drift today is a museum and a shrine
Tour guides at the site will tell you the story
Of those brave British soldiers and their hour of glory.
(The Victoria Cross or VC is the highest and most prestigious award given
to members of the British armed forces for valour in the face of the enemy.)
The best of nature lies in thy bosom
mother Africa, the toast of continents
your strength and opulence draw
kings and nobles to endless
rift of spoil sharing and gun trotting.
Africa! The strength of
the universe, the last bride of
nature with sumptuous virginity
from Somalia to Kenya, deep
down the creek of Delta to
the arrogant diamond of the
Zulus, earth cannot rival
thy blessing and extravagant
endowments.
Shameless kings seek second
dominance in oil rich north
with flying birds and explosions,
they sowed corruption in Naija
they brought AIDS and HIV with their planes
and then send grants to mock us
Yet the African spirits wax stronger!
Mother Africa,
inside thee lies peace
endowed by creation, but
these evil emissaries of
violence sowed poverty
and grief in thy land
knowing the volatile nature of
thy productivity. Alas, in torrent
we have reaped pains and bloods,
four years drought in Kenya, two
months xenophobia in south Africa,
endless genocide in Sudan
endless NATO assault in Libya
with piracy holding sway in
Somalia, oh mama Africa!
yet thy love intoxicates me
like the tribal white wine of Iwaya!
they tell our stories in biased satellites
they label us evil and apish
oh Mama Africa, arise, arise !
out of thy trial in awesome purity.
Arise! Arise! Arise!
Arise from thy slumber and give
hope to our fleeing children!
Bring them from the south,west
and north and let the
eastern hemisphere release
thy heritage.
Now there is war in Africa
but soon there shall be
unassuming peace and
discoveries of earth
noble secret in thy enclave.
It Was An Era Mankind Groan’d
Brute, Its Ruthless Fangs, Apartheid
Regime So Repressive, South Africans Moan’d
A Wail Of Laments, Less Than Slaves
O, Wept The Zulus, Aliens At Home
Where Is A Redeemer?
Where Is God?
Freedom Zealots Are Kill’d, Jail’d
Oliver Thambo, Nelson Mandela
“God Save Our Peoples”, Arch-Bishop Tutu Wail’d
And Fellow Libertarians, Ungather’d Abroad
Minutes, Years, Roll’d! Androll’d By
Where Is A Redeemer?
Where Is God?
Of Immortal Presence His Invisible Light
From The Heart Of Mandela Breath’d Forth This Torch
A Promise Of Love
A Promise Of Freedom
A Promise For Forgiveness
Virtues, Hate Or Death Could Never Overcome
In Praise And Resilience Scann’d The Minutes
In Faith And Hope Waited Mandela
In Dream Of Freedom
In Dream For Forgiveness
O, Madiba, Within Thy Ribs Beats The Heart Of An Angel
An African With Plume Of Honour
An Englishman lost in afternoon tea,
Memories of a lotus flower love
Rajas and elephants in Delhi
Livingstone the explorer
Religion to convert
Laurence of Arabia
A leader of men
The Boers and the Zulus
Gordon and Khartoum
These are the things that shook the world
Silk and Cotton,
The wealth of Empire
Earl Mountbatten our man in Burma
The cry of Bombay and Ceylon
Oblivious to a young man’s dream
England was the world
Her Empire was great
For the sun never did sett
On her wealth
The jewel in this noble crown
Yet History was not kind
Exploitation her crime
Though civilisation came hand in hand
For Freedom we planted
Democracy you chanted
The union jack you did burn
And what have you learned
Greed breeds poverty in silence
Sectarian dogma your anthem
Murder by the chosen few
How flourishes your tree
When your morals all flee
With bombs in the souk
And murder by troops
Education restricted
The poor evicted
To make way for corruption
And tyrants consumption
Look to the horizon
For there lies Britain
It's empire gone
But our pride lingers on
Can your freedom say the same?
Or is oil to blame?
Who shall we accuse?
For your freedoms abuse?
Not the British
Love us or hate us
England brought you civilisation
And civilisation lives on
In this green and pleasant land
African art:
Beautiful beads,
Creative crowns,
Deep dances,
Eternal expressions,
Fashions… fictions,
Gorgeous gowns,
Hearty huts,
Inspiring instructions,
Justifiable jewels,
Kudos… knocks,
Lovely languages,
Melodious music,
Noble nomads,
Oaks… oasis,
Peculiar pictures,
Quiet queens;
Religion, romance;
Spirits…songs,
Terrific throngs,
Undiluted unbriddled,
Virtuous villagers,
Wisdom… words;
Xeric Xenopus,
Yoicks… yokes,
Zealous Zulus.
Lightning and thunder, with torrents of rain, pouring down....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Interpretations....Dream sequences....Dreams....
Freud and Young....Einstein....Professor, whats his name?
Modern analysis....Scientific breakthroughs....Philosophies....
Profiles and treatments....IQ,s, and I use....Possibilities, and, I'm there?
A universe, of a box of chocolates, and, a hat full of tricks....
Spilled upon the pages....A galaxy of stages....Here today, but, how long?
Gypsies, astrologies, crystal balls, and, all....
The wheel of fortune....Fortune tellers....Great names, great days, great minds
Great great great great....Look to the east, for the origin....
It all, began there....Thousands of years ago....And so, they say?
The 'Great Empire of Rome'....'The Zulus'....'The Aztecas'....Etc., etc.
The this, that that, the the, the, the....'The Lost City of Atlantis'
'The Egyptian Sphinx'....'Metropolis'....Metropolis, and, Gotham City
The origin of man....The great explosion....The infusion....
Presto....Pick a card....How'd they do that?
Interpretations, analagies, philosophies, the sciences, and
The blades....The shades....The maids....You've come a long way?
Dream sequences....All the thoughts....And, all the things....
Modern days....Ancient days....Darkened days....Enlightened days....Days, days, daze!
Interpretations....What do you mean? Let me see....
How far, how clear, how near, how, how , how?
What can any of it, what can any of this, 'This,' do for me?
For my eyes shall close, within a wink, before, I can even, 'Breathe!'
Today, is your lucky day....Your future, bodes well....
Jupiter isn't a planet, its a star~Your a star~And
Man, he was once an ape....And, I can turn that scar, into, a face....
Oh yes, this is, your lucky day....We can now add, ten years to your life
And yes, we do have, a nursery, full of eyes....Green or blue? Perhaps, lavender for you?
{Continued}
Africa
South Africa is a ramshackle state
When it got rid of apartheid the people
Of Soweto did get the spoil
But are poorer than before
The ANC is corrupt and sinking deeper into the mire
Of crime
The Zulus want a state of their own.
let us blame the successful Boers who feed the nation
take the acres of land and give it to those
who doesn’t know how to run this type of business?
For the rest of Africa too many minerals and oil
The big corporations want their arm warlords and the winner
Will get a percentage, and the poor land workers bear
The brunt of this wanton killings.
Someone has to speak up, there will not be another
Mandela soon, not for a long time.