MOURNING THE EXIT OF LAURETTA NGCOBO

By Ishmael Mzwandile Soqaga

Today we are paying our deepest condolences

To the fallen heroine, woman of Africa

Today we are paying our last respects

Words of Eulogy are innumerable

Condolences from our aggrieved hearts

Literary fraternity is gloomy and mourning

Prepare to dedicate their sonorous tributes

If we know the time

We could simply say No

But who can repulse the time?

Who can courageously say No?

Our hearts and bellies are

Overwhelmed by poignant sorrow

 Melancholic at your last journey

This time you didn’t tell us

You didn’t candidly

Tell that you will leave

That you will ascend like seraphs

Beforehand you left

You left and you returned

You left, not by your choice

And you left - determined

Erstwhile when you left

To leave was inevitable

Under daunting racial terror

Under racial suppression and

Under racial discrimination

Sought but you managed

Probably surreptitiously

To evade and you leave

Nevertheless, breath of life was with you

In foreign land - you blossomed stunningly

With your profound agility

You did extraordinarily well

Your prodigious deft was intriguing

Patently you were intellectually fascinating

While you were in your country

 Alas, in the land of your birth as youngster

You were lampooned and rejected

Without any option, you opted

 To leave and not to die

Why should you die? When you

Precisely knew that you are phenomenal

In exile you stayed, but you were not

Quiescent and you worked...worked

Your brilliance was remarkable

Sedulous African woman in exile

Unflagging African women

Eager to work and you worked

Teaching in English schools

I reckon conspicuously

It was in 1963 when you left

Facing imminent arrest then you fled

The gory of Sharpeville and Langa

 Gruesome act of security police

Apartheid in your door, ready to devour you

Freedom fighters and masses alike perished

Horrific sounds of guns and shootings

On peaceful demonstrators

 In response the late Ingrid Jonker reacted

With her breathtaking poem “Die Kind”

And the anger of the oppressor upsurge

Robben Island remained the home

To freedom fighters and whoever considered

Obstinate and suspicious-gaol was his/her punishment

Death and arrest knocking at your door

Consciously you realised it was coming

And successfully you evaded and you left

I remember, first you went

To Swaziland, then Zambia

And finally you settled in England

Where you worked as a teacher

For twenty five years!

Cheerfully, freedom came in your land

At the dawn of freedom you returned

Vigorous and winsome

With your phenomenal prowess

You constantly pulled off awesome feats

Writing exhilarating novels

Classic and splendid novels!

You garnered prestigious awards in literature

In 2006 you were honoured with

Lifetime Achievement Literary Award

Melancholic you leave again

Spontaneously-plaintive! You leave forever

Now you are in concert with your ancestors

This time it is death

It is death that takes you!

Sad!  Because of your death

We are reeling; painfully distraught

Absolutely  gloomy

Now because of your death

We are aggrieved and mourning

Reeling, aggrieved and mourning

For the poignant demise of a giant

Phenomenal African woman

Humanitarian, exponent of women rights

Freedom fighter, mother of the Nation

Daughter of the soil-mother of Africa

Of course, we will miss you wholeheartedly

We will miss your humane, didactic being

Your passionate love for all people

Black, white, red and yellow

Your death could not make us despondent

We are optimistically confident

Unperturbed and inspired by your

Stupendous literary achievement

Definitely, the progeny will commend you

Because of your sacrosanct life and your success

Categorically you are meritorious, Mama Lauretta Ngcobo

Meritorious for your gallant spirit of heroine

You are victorious – profound, exceptional woman!!!