Mabalel.
(Translation of the poem ‘Mabalel’ by Eugene N. Marais.)
Fast along the footpath triples Mabalel
Happy is the song
That accompanies her jingling ankle-rings
On the footpath she’s alone
With only shadows all around her
On her head a jar is balanced
Loyal and steadfast
Like waves are the colours of heaven’s bow
Slowly the last light dwindles
And from afar through wood-pole fences
The flames of the first fires wink.
Stretched out peacefully
Lies Rakwena, broad and silent
Shimmering beneath the moon
A bending spoon
And the white plumed reeds
Sing their sad lullaby
While the dark sky has a silver shining
In the deep-mirrored heaven’s hollow
Wait, wait, Mabalel
Is there nothing that tells –
Is there nothing in the darkness
Whispering scared and urgent in your ears
Of the terrible host
Listening to your song?
Who follows your tracks?
Do you notice nothing of the terrible danger?
Do you not feel the cold and chill hand
Of death upon your heart?
For below the palm-reed stems
In the blue darkness lies Lalele
Unaware of all evil
Cruelty Itself, and Merciless
With unending patience
That conquers all time and circumstance
That sure as fate
Unsleeping in the depths await
Through winter cold and summer sun
Through drought and flood
Throughout all hardships
In the deep lies Lalele
A ray of sun upon the sand
Of a flame-burned land
Between shores dead and bare
Flows Rakwena through the rocks
Between stems of reeds
A black mourning-band of sorrow
And by the dark-green pool
Where the last waters hide
Hidden from the sighing wind
And burnt by the scorching sun;
Unmoving in his lair lies Lalele!
And when in the dark nights
Roaring all the forces are let loose
Of violence, storm and flood,
And the river amidst shouts of panic
Longs for vengeance
Like a wounded lion
Black and raging breaks from the bush,
Blinding lightning, like a flaming dagger
Lights up the river bank
In a world of shimmering light
Unperturbed by the great storm;
In the deep lies Lalele…
Mabalel stands dreaming on the shore
In her heart she feels the longing
Her thoughts untouched
She peers into the depths
She looks into the blue darkness
Until she dreamily
Becomes a part of the dream;
Lost to the world
She smiles at her own reflection.
Slowly through the roots and reeds
Upwards from the deep rises Lalele…
Wake up, Mabalel!
Don’t you see the shadow rising?
-To the high-ground, Mabalel!
Leave your dreaming-
Never had the tree-roots ‘neath the water
A companion such as this,
No vision in a nightmare
That haunts the dreamer’s days,
No fiend from hell
Half as threatening and as fierce,
As this shadow, Mabalel!
As this shadow underneath you
Shooting upwards from the deep…
Before your feet
Lighted by the western glimmer
Where you stand and peer uncaring
Without a hint of danger,
From the flowing river
A half-sunken leaf rises…
If you had a lion’s strength
Or the wings of eagles
Girl, it would not help you
For you have lingered too long – too late…
From the dark and mirrored pool
Bursts a foaming arch of water
Over Rakwena, broad and calm
Echoes a lonely fearful cry
And soft again the silence falls;
On everything…
Winking through the wood-pole fences
Clearly shine the night fires
In the silence, stark,
The sounds of calls for Mabalel,
But only rocks give answer
She shall nevermore return…
Slowly through the roots and reeds,
To the deep sinks Lalele…
JP Brown – 03/07/2008.
Notes:
This is a translation of a poem based on a true incident.
1.Rakwena – Hippopotamus Pool in the Limpopo River.
2. Lalele – Crocodile.
3. Mabalel – Name of young girl eaten by a crocodile.
