POETRY

Life

By Robert Chiwamba translated by Benedicto Wokomaatani Malunga     VOLUME 56 No. 2

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Moyo

Dzina la bambo ali nalo
Bambo ake sanawapenyeko

Nde akakhalakhala amandifunsa
Bambo anga ali kuti

Yankho langa limakhala limodzi
Nanenso ndidakonda padzana
Koma chikondi sichidandimvere

Sitonse amene tidalengedwa kudzakonda
n’kukondedwa
Kagone watopa mwana


Life

He bears the name of a father
he has not seen.
Now and again, he asks the troubling question:
Where is my father?
My response is always one.
I also once loved deeply,
only not to be favored by
love’s cooperation and sympathy.
It is not all of us
who were created to love and be loved in equal
measure.
You must be tired, my son.
Go and find solace in sleep.

•     •     •


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ROBERT CHIWAMBA is a multi-award-winning local Chichewa language spoken word poet from Malawi. An overall winner of the European Union’s DEVCO Communication Award (2018) and the UN Women’s Malawi HeForShe Art Contest (2014), Chiwamba commands a followership of over 400,000 people across his social media platforms. He has performed during UNESCO’s Media and Information Literacy events as well as at the state houses of Iceland and Malawi. He was also the chief judge for the UN Malawi’s Peace Poetry Contest (2021) and Plan Malawi International’s Rewrite Her Story Contest (2020). A creative writing workshop facilitator for UNESCO’s commission of Korea (2016) and Lake of Stars (2016), Chiwamba was also a judge for World Bank Malawi’s ‘poetry on poverty’ Arts Contest (2014) and has performed at all premium festivals in Malawi.

BENEDICTO WOKOMAATANI MALUNGA is a retired higher education manager with a doctorate degree in business administration with an emphasis on higher education management. Additionally, he is a published translator, short story writer, poet, essayist, critic, and music composer. Apart from numerous stories and poems published internationally and locally, he has two major book translations and three poetry anthologies. His other poems have appeared in two anthologies on Amazon.


VOLUME 56 No. 2