Death - Leetile Disang Raditladi

When I heard that he is dead I was shocked,

My marrow melted, I dropped a tear,

The earth darkened, it rotated,

My eye shone like a star,

Something whispered in my red heart

It said: "don't cry, it's God's will!"

Tears dried on my cheeks,

The tongue touched the palate high,

I became quiet, turned mute.

There is nowhere that we don't see death,

We see death everywhere

In the entire non-moving universe,

In animals and people it is the same.

Summer produces debris of autumn,

Its fruits are the provisions for years,

Those who pick them eat them to gorge themselves

Knowing that they are leaving earthly things

But those who don't die await winter.

If you have escaped, don't forget,

Whether you are a great King or a slave

Clouds of death come anytime,

They don't shine, they do not roar like thunderstorms. 

Death reigns throughout the year,

It reigns, it rules, it reigns like kingship,

Summer, Autumn or Winter.

Flowers decorate our graves

Even butterflies rest with us

What a big difference death makes!

Look at the great beauty of a person,

Cleanliness that has nothing that can dominate it,

And happiness in the light of the eyes,

In death it is no man, it is nothingness,

In the grave it is soil pebbles of bones

This is a gift for every person,

Estate of soil and meat for the worms.

Bones made into stones of pebbles

Even if some on earth pin you down,

In death they are clearly equal to you;

Conceited people even if they undermine you

On the ground you walk together

Death sits on a person with pride fly-like,

It does not revere status of royalties;

It squats just there, that we know.

Victors, cowards in death are the same,

A king and a servant in the grave are equal. 

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Leetile Disang Raditladi (1910–1971) Botswana

Translated by Manini Wilhelmina Ntsonda

Source: An analysis of selected poems from Sefalana sa menate by L.D. Raditladi with reference to Riffaterre's and Lotman's semiotics, Manini Wilhelmina Ntsonda (MA Dissertation), North-West University, 2009