{"id":442,"date":"2020-06-03T21:20:58","date_gmt":"2020-06-03T21:20:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pluckjournal.uky.edu\/welcome\/?p=442"},"modified":"2020-06-03T22:36:38","modified_gmt":"2020-06-03T22:36:38","slug":"mapping-eswatini-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pluckjournal.uky.edu\/welcome\/2020\/06\/03\/mapping-eswatini-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Mapping Eswatini"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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1<\/strong>\u00a0 Mountains Speak<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Our plane flies<\/p>

Over the Makhonjwa Mountains,<\/p>

Which formed the valleys and gorges of Swaziland.<\/p>

I marvel at how they carry age,<\/p>

Billions of years, stratified layers<\/p>

Beneath the green-hued rock.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

And I think of home<\/p>

Over eight thousand miles away,<\/p>

The Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia,<\/p>

Lush green in summer,<\/p>

Waiting for this new day to arrive.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

These misty African mountains,<\/p>

Cradling humanity, confound speech.<\/p>

We have come to bring words,<\/p>

But I can hardly untie my tongue<\/p>

In the presence of their majesty.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

2<\/strong>\u00a0 Minerva Lab Theater, Mbabane<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

We had come to bring words<\/p>

To the center of Swazi culture,<\/p>

Where the country\u2019s wordsmiths and singers,<\/p>

With names like \u201cthe Conductor,\u201d Bonaiwe, Nbobie<\/p>

Kr TC, and Qibho Intalektual,<\/p>

Transformed the drab of the theater into light.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Where they made ancestors walk in flesh<\/p>

And fly with extended wings like eagles,<\/p>

Where they told of sangoma,<\/i><\/p>

Grandmothers, who divine the secrets of the forests,<\/p>

And told stories of the Motsa clan<\/p>

Who make the rain.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

All of us had come<\/p>

With our expectations bursting with brightness.<\/p>

Now we leave the theatre like Olympians,<\/p>

Who bring the torch and pass it on.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

3<\/strong>\u00a0 SOS Children\u2019s Village, Nhlangano<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

They bring the torch and pass it on.<\/p>

The fire is in the children\u2019s eyes.<\/p>

Loss of parents, hunger or poverty<\/p>

Has not extinguished it.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

They are eager and joyful<\/p>

As they recite their language,<\/p>

Proclaim their names,<\/p>

And dream about who they will become.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

We learn their words<\/p>

Sawubona <\/i>\u2013hello\u2014necessary syllables<\/p>

To greet others,<\/p>

Ngiyabonga<\/i>\u2014thank you\u2014even more syllables<\/p>

To speak gratitude.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

We learn lessons from them:<\/p>

How to live in the moment<\/p>

Expecting nothing but what is before us,<\/p>

Relishing time swifter than the impala.<\/p>

Believing in absolutes like flowers,<\/p>

Mountains, and love.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

We don\u2019t learn the word for good-bye.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

4<\/strong>\u00a0 Mapped by Heart<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

We came expecting strangers<\/p>

Shared words that made us friends<\/p>

Embraced children with only love to give,<\/p>

Held counsel with men on fire for change<\/p>

And women who understand their elephant-power.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

We learned that Ninjani<\/i>\u2014<\/p>

How are you\u2014<\/p>

Is not an empty term.<\/p>

It carries heft like reddish rock where pines hold fast<\/p>

And is as plentiful as the acacia that grace the land.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Now my finger traces the lines on the page<\/p>

Connecting places that I lock in my memory:<\/p>

Hhohoho, Ezulwini, Manzini and Mbabane<\/p>

Where we learned the truth of magnitude and bond<\/p>

And found a people we mapped by heart.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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–Joanne Gabbin was educated at Morgan State University and the University of Chicago. In 1994 Gabbin organized and directed the historic conference, \u201cFurious Flower: A Revolution in African American Poetry,\u201d which she called the \u201clargest gathering of poets, critics, and scholars in more than two decades\u201d dedicated to celebrating the African American poetic tradition. In 2004, Gabbin organized the second Furious Flower poetry conference. She is editor of Furious Flower: African American Poetry from the Black Arts Movement to the Present<\/em> (2004) and The Furious Flowering of African American Poetry<\/em> (1999), and executive producer of the Furious Flower<\/em> video and DVD series. She is also author of a biography, Sterling A. Brown: Building the Black Aesthetic Tradition<\/em> (1994), and a children\u2019s book, I Bet She Called Me Sugarplum <\/em>(2004). Gabbin\u2019s articles have appeared in Callaloo<\/em>, African American Review<\/em>, The Zora Neale Hurston Forum<\/em>, The Oxford Companion to Women\u2019s Writing<\/em>, the Langston Hughes Journal<\/em>, The Oxford Companion to African American Literature<\/em>, and others. In October 2005, Gabbin was inducted into the International Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent. She is founder and organizer of the Wintergreen Women Writers\u2019 Collective, and owner of the 150 Franklin Street Gallery in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She is currently a professor of English at James Madison University where she is also director of the Honors Program and executive director of the Furious Flower Poetry Center.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1\u00a0 Mountains Speak \u00a0 Our plane flies Over the Makhonjwa Mountains, Which formed the valleys and gorges of Swaziland. I marvel at how they carry age, Billions of years, stratified layers Beneath the green-hued rock. \u00a0 And I think of home Over eight thousand miles away, The Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, Lush green in summer, Waiting for this new day to arrive. \u00a0 These misty African mountains, Cradling humanity, confound speech. We have come to bring words, But I can hardly untie my tongue In the presence of their majesty. \u00a0 2\u00a0 Minerva Lab Theater, Mbabane \u00a0 We had come to bring words To the center of Swazi culture, Where the country\u2019s wordsmiths and singers, With names like \u201cthe Conductor,\u201d Bonaiwe, Nbobie Kr TC, and Qibho Intalektual, Transformed the drab of the theater into light. \u00a0 Where they made ancestors walk in flesh And fly with extended wings like eagles, Where they told of sangoma, Grandmothers, who divine the secrets of the forests, And told stories of the Motsa clan Who make the rain. \u00a0 All of us had come With our expectations bursting with brightness. Now we leave the theatre like Olympians, Who bring the torch and pass it on. \u00a0 3\u00a0 SOS Children\u2019s Village, Nhlangano \u00a0 They bring the torch and pass it on. The fire is in the children\u2019s eyes. Loss of parents, hunger or poverty Has not extinguished it. \u00a0 They are eager and joyful As they recite their language, Proclaim their names, And dream about who they will become. \u00a0 We learn their words Sawubona \u2013hello\u2014necessary syllables To greet others, Ngiyabonga\u2014thank you\u2014even more syllables To speak gratitude. \u00a0 We learn lessons from them: How to live in the moment Expecting nothing but what is before us, Relishing time swifter than the impala. Believing in absolutes like flowers, Mountains, and love. \u00a0 We don\u2019t learn the word for good-bye. \u00a0 4\u00a0 Mapped by Heart \u00a0 We came expecting strangers Shared words that made us friends Embraced children with only love to give, Held counsel with men on fire for change And women who understand their elephant-power. \u00a0 We learned that Ninjani\u2014 How are you\u2014 Is not an empty term. It carries heft like reddish rock where pines hold fast And is as plentiful as the acacia that grace the land. \u00a0 Now my finger traces the lines on the page Connecting places that I lock in my memory: Hhohoho, Ezulwini, Manzini and Mbabane Where we learned the truth of magnitude and bond And found a people we mapped by heart. –Joanne Gabbin was educated at Morgan State University and the University of Chicago. In 1994 Gabbin organized and directed the historic conference, \u201cFurious Flower: A Revolution in African American Poetry,\u201d which she called the \u201clargest gathering of poets, critics, and scholars in more than two decades\u201d dedicated to celebrating the African American poetic tradition. In 2004, Gabbin organized the second Furious Flower poetry conference. She is editor of Furious Flower: African American Poetry from the Black Arts Movement to the Present (2004) and The Furious Flowering of African American Poetry (1999), and executive producer of the Furious Flower video and DVD series. She is also author of a biography, Sterling A. Brown: Building the Black Aesthetic Tradition (1994), and a children\u2019s book, I Bet She Called Me Sugarplum (2004). Gabbin\u2019s articles have appeared in Callaloo, African American Review, The Zora Neale Hurston Forum, The Oxford Companion to Women\u2019s Writing, the Langston Hughes Journal, The Oxford Companion to African American Literature, and others. In October 2005, Gabbin was inducted into the International Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent. She is founder and organizer of the Wintergreen Women Writers\u2019 Collective, and owner of the 150 Franklin Street Gallery in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She is currently a professor of English at James Madison University where she is also director of the Honors Program and executive director of the Furious Flower Poetry Center.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,6],"tags":[30,32,15,13],"class_list":["post-442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-eswatini-issue","category-poetry","tag-eswatini-issue","tag-furious-flower","tag-joanne-v-gabbin","tag-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pluckjournal.uky.edu\/welcome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pluckjournal.uky.edu\/welcome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pluckjournal.uky.edu\/welcome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pluckjournal.uky.edu\/welcome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pluckjournal.uky.edu\/welcome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=442"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/pluckjournal.uky.edu\/welcome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":445,"href":"https:\/\/pluckjournal.uky.edu\/welcome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442\/revisions\/445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pluckjournal.uky.edu\/welcome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pluckjournal.uky.edu\/welcome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pluckjournal.uky.edu\/welcome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}