Hamed AlHabsi – The Winds of Time (excerpt)

Hamed AlHabsi – Master in Management. IE Business School.

Reading:
The Winds of Time (Upepo wa Waka)  by Euphrase Kezilahabi (1974).

One day I stood on a small hill
looking down at the lake on the day
of storms. I watched the waves
rising and falling. Swelling
swirling, churning and spuming foam
like mad bulls in a field with no grass.
How they surge!
How they collapse and rise again!
I had seen nothing like this before.
I watched them crash and soar
driven by the winds from the West and the East –
just like our world
and our lives
which rise and fall
on the winds of time.
Watch them grab power
the way a drowning man clutches the leg of his friend!
Watch them clutch money
the way a child grips a doll
or a mad soldier grabs his rifle
to silence us.
They will rise and fall
and collapse,
driven by the winds of time.

—

Juu ya mlima mdogo
Siku moja nilisimama.
Nikatazama chini ziwani, siku
Ya dhoruba. Halafu niliona mawimbi
Yakipanda na kushuka. Yakivimba,
Yakiviringika, yakigongana na kutoa povu
Kama fahari wehu katika bonde lisomajani.
Yalivyotengenezwa!
Yalivyofifia na kuanza tena!
Kamwe sikuona.
Lakini niliyaona yakishuka kwa nguvu
Na kupanda haraka, yakisukumwa
Na upepo wa Magharibi na Mashariki.
Hivyo ndivyo ulimwengu ulivyo.
Na hivyo maisha ya binadamu.
Wanapanda na kushuka
Wakisukumwa na upepo na wakati.
Tazama wanavyojinyakulia madaraka
Kama mzamaji, mguu wa rafikiye, ashikavyo!
Wanavyoshika pesa kama mtoto
Na picha ya bandia
Au asikari mwehu na bunduki yake
Na kutunyamazisha!
Watapanda na kushuka
Na wataanguka kweli!
Wakisukumwa na upepo wa wakati!