Tongues of Prophesy

When I speak I speak in tongues, but not tongues of prophecy but tongues of blamesphy
Even then I do not speak in my mother tongue but the tongue of those that are my oppressors
For my mother tongue they have come to term a sinful language
So you see I am not a product of nature or that of my mother
But I am a by-product of these sinful oppressions
So I embrace their sinful oppression with pride knowing that my pride is all I have

I am a child of AFRICA so when I speak with my elders I look down as a sign of respect
I bite my nails I write wordless words on the floor just to avoid their eyes
But they came from the west and told me that my respect was a sign of cowardice
That my gestures of respect told them that I am lying...
So which do I embrace... their teaching or my culture
For when I speak I speak in tongues but not tongues of prophecy but tongues blamesphy
Even then I do not speak in my mother tongue but the tongue of those that are my oppressors
For my mother tongue they have come to term a sinful language
And since I fear eternal condemnation I embrace their language with pride and I forget my oppression
So you see I am not a product of nature or that of my mother but I am a by-product of these sinful oppressions

umlomo ishoba lokuziphungela so I use this sword of words
Until they complement me on my culture blinding me with their smiles to the jokes they share
They say my words are pregnant with hope and they will feed me one day
They promise to take me international for my words represent me
My words are full of the respect that they condemn; they are full of my culture
But how can they if they are not the words that my mother fed me
How can they if they are written in a foreign language
ulimi engingaluncelanga kumama
But still I speak in tongues in the tongues of those that are my oppressors
Praying that their language which is sinfully oppressing me will yield to the words that produced

When I speak I speak in tongues, but not tongues of prophecy but tongues of blamesphy
Even then I do not speak in my mother tongue but the tongue of those that are my oppressors
For my mother tongue they have come to term a sinful language
So you see I am not a product of nature or that of my mother
But I am a by-product of these sinful oppressions
So I embrace they sinful oppression with pride knowing that my pride is all I have

I’m stuck between my culture and civilization I have to choose between my roots and the fruits I produced
But these fruits are results of thee roots and these roots were made for these fruits …
So which do I choose do I enjoy these pleasures of my labour and forget about who I am or do I stick to me and waste the fruits of my hard labour
I am but am no longer

By Thembeka Madondo