Grape Vine - Hale Tsehlana

I heard from the grapevine
that your mother is a witch.
they say this was not a natural death
This man was bewitched.
I daughter of the Lion clan am not surprised,
a man is a wetnosed god.
My mother is the witch
her knees a worn out from kneeling.

It is not AIDS but witchcraft
be careful the tower of babel can befall you
while you sleep walk.
Complaining with baseless fears.
The death of a nation is in ignorance
not lack of Timjane and Umbhejane*.
There are no nutrients
blood soldiers are also gone.

Africans stop pointing fingers
each human being is an image of God.
My mother is a believer
she can only bewitch you with a bible verse.

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Hale Tsehlana (20th century) Lesotho
*Timjane and Umbhejane are herbal mixtures commonly associated with the treatment of AIDS and miscellaneous illnesses amongst black South Africans