ordnance elegy by Peter Midgley

ordnance elegy

dawn, the iridescent cadence of gunfire over

carthage

misrata

el alamein

ongulumbashe

qa

qa

days like this can scarcely be imagined:
at omduruman, cavalry thunders down the nile
cetshwayo rumbles at isandlwana
in Kenya
mau mau mau-mau
mausers and mausoleums
10,000 victims
kikuyu rising

ri -sing-sing SAM-7
missiles
raindrops
keep fa-BUH!
fa-BUH!
raindrops keep fa-BUH!
raindrops fa-BUH!
raindrops keep fa-BUrundi on the front page:
murder and massacre in Rwand-
drops keep falling on
Ma-PU!
Ma-PU! Ma-PU-tu
Misrata
Mpungu

raindrops keep mpu-mpu-mpu-mpu-ngulumbash-ing the earth:

geliefde sendelinge van die dood
in die dorheid van ons gebergtes
waar ons kranse lê
bande aan ons vryheid
bande aan ons nekke
kralekruise reëndruppels en

daglig ontplof1
in cuito cuanavale
in chinhoyi
in cassinga
in caprivi

ffffa-BUH! fffa-BUH! fa-BUH!-lous sunset safaris:
O, kyk! krokodille langs die kavango,

qa-qa-qa!!!!

lywe stil soos krokodille in die kavango
O, sien: lyke langs die walle van die kavango
soos krokodille
en die son b(l)om in die nag:2
fffa-BUH! fffa-BUH!!!

En vanaand dans hulle hand-aan-hand
met die meisie van die bolshoi-ballet
pam pam-pam
pam
dans hulle met die meisie van 47 name, nes ’n goedkoop slet:
my meisie, my viooltjie, ou sanna, my bok.
47 name wat in jou ’n strik sal lok:3
a.k.a. a.k.a. a.k.-47

PAM! PAM-PAM!

PAM!

senzeni na kulomhlaba
sono sethu yinyaniso
sono sethu ubumnyama4

What have we done?
What have we done?
Want onse sonde is swartgeit en
die jimmel sit oor ons soos heilige karos
En hy se goedheit
Sal ons nooit wee los en
Soosie waarheid, ons is skoongewas5

mayibuye, i-Afrika,
days like this are surely imagined:
corpses, casspirs, ceterum censeo carthaginem esse delendam6
violence is unnecessary
violence is costly
peace is the only way7
it is, my Lord, an ideal for which I am prepared to die . . .8
the dead, the living,
and the unborn will unite,9
unite to rebuild destroyed shr-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r
will unite, will
unite, rrr-r-r-r-r-rebuild shr . . . sssh! sshh!

Thula, thula abantwana.
Thul’ ubabuzo fica ekuseni.
Hush little babies, hush-a-by

Daddy will be home by and by . . .

the dead, the living and the unborn
will unite. They will unite to rebuild destroyed shrines.

thula, thula abantwana

_____________

Notes:

1.

beloved missionaries of death
ringing in the drought of our mountains
where crags hang wreaths
like tyres on our freedom
tyres around our necks
rosaries raindrops

2.

look! crocodiles on the okavango
bodies silent as crocodiles on the kavango
see: corpses lapping against
the banks of the kavango
like crocodiles

and the sun b(l)ooms in the night

3.

And tonight they dance hand-in-hand
With the girl from the bolshoi ballet
pam
pam-pam
pam
tonight they dance with the stow-away siren
47 names in the palm of her hand:
my girl, old sanna, ol’ betsy, sweet violet,
47 names to trap you yet

4.

A dirge sung at political funerals during the apartheid era.

5.

For our sin is our blackness and
Heaven lies above us like a holy karos
And his goodness
Will never leave us and like
honesty and truth we’re washed clean

6.

Words spoken by Cato the Elder, a Roman politician.

7.

Words spoken by Julius Nyerere, the first president of independent Tanzania.

8.

Words spoken by Nelson Mandela, in his speech from the dock at the Rivonia Trial.

9.

Words spoken Jomo Kenyatta, the first president of independent Kenya.