Thula mtanami
Quite down my child
Like a calf
I want you to suck on my breast with joy
And hold on to me tightly
For I am here to love and protect you
I am here to care for you as a bird cares for its fledglings
So be still and listen to the sounds of my heart
Blood is thicker than water
Cry not my child I will never forsake you,
You are but a normal child like any other
So I will not give you up in favour of pagans who wish you ill,
I will never leave you merely because you were born with skin
That’s too soft like porridge made out of pumpkin;
I will never forsake you merely because
You were born congenially lacking melanin
But with a faint pigment of grass bleached with winter,
And very little brown hair;
I will never abandon you,
My obligation is to make sure that you are loved in all your days.
My child,
All who had happily watched me bud like a rose
When I conceived you,
Each and every one of them
Including your father
Have distanced themselves away from me
Now that I gave birth to you as albino,
They eye me like a rose no more
But like a blackthorn bearing its bitter fruit
They hate you
They hate me
They hate us!
And I wonder if this is what I prayed and fasted for,
What I spent all my days burning the candle at both ends for,
I wonder if this is what I had been up and down mountains for
O!
I am so in pain…
Everybody taunts me…
But it doesn’t matter
I will not fight them over God’s creation,
Unkulunkulu did not give you unto me as a bone of contention
Rather as a blessing,
A priceless diamond though a bit rough on the edges
But I will cherish and love you forever,
So cry not my beautiful child for my wide back will be your stroller
Pushed by God almighty
And my warm heart will be a prepaid jukebox
Playing you lullabies over and over again.