This Is My Story/Mary Mother of No-One

This Is My Story

by

Marjorie Maleka

Compiled by Njabulo Ngobese

Day 16 of Women's month as we continue to salute the women who have dedicated themselves at making a change in our society by fighting for children's rights.

"I am an artist", that just about somes up Marjorie Maleka who was born in Vryburg in 1979 and grew up in the Free State under the guidance of her mother. She attended primary school at Reitz and secondary schooling at The Agricultural School of Seotlong. Marjorie art career began at Vaal Triangle Technikon in 1999 and she joined the Artist Proof Studio in 2001. She specialises in print-making and has participated in group exhibitions locally and abroad and now manages the Artist Proof Studio's Nhlanhla Xaba Gallery whilst in the process of learning Marketing and Sales.

Marjorie Maleka states that her work is about "human rights, with a focus on the rights of women". She combines printmaking, photography and collage in her work. Marjorie's long term goals include furthering her studies and becoming an artist as well as an art critic.

Poem:

Mary mother of no-one

Lindiwe Nkhutha

yet again unfounded myths

re-write themselves on my body

faceless malevolent voices

proclaim me the virginal cleanser

of heartache and dis-ease

while taking turns to fill me to the brim with same

my shrills swathed in regal stoles of collective silence

lie behind consensual paralytic truths

that have never walked,

let alone flown

i watch with a throat full of swallowed words

while my consent is sacrificed on alters to inconsiderate gods

it crushes the bones in my heart

that no one ever hears the

two, sometimes three, mostly seven pleadings

that drip out of the sides of my mouth

onto my pillow now gone deaf

will somebody…

will somebody, anybody…

somebody,

anybody,

your body

stop this madness

Ngingu Maria uma kamuntu

IsiZulu tranlsation: Lindiwe Nkutha

Kwenzeka futhi, izinganekwane ezingena msusa

Zizibhala emzimbeni wami

Amaphimbo anomunyu kodwa angenabo ubuso

Angibiza ngocwebileyo

Ogeza izinhlungu zenhliziyo nezifo zonke

Ngaleso sikhathi agcwalisa ubunjalo bami ngalezo zinhlungu

Izikhalo zami zemboswe ngengubo yobukhosi engasho lutho

Yona egquma amaqiniso akhubazekile

Angakaze ahamba

futhi angeke andize

Konke lokhu ngikubuka umphimbo wami ugcwele

Amagama engingakwazi ukuwagwinya

Kwenziwa izihlabelo egameni lami ngokuvuma kwami

Kwenzelwa onkulunkulu abengenandaba

Kuphula amathambo enhliziyo yami

Ukuthi akekho namunye okewezwa

Lawo mazwi amabili, ngesinye isikhathi amathathu

Kaniningi ayisikhombisa angumthandazo wami,

Ophuma ohlangothini linye lezindebe zami

Manje esengiwaxoxela umqamelo wami

nawo sewuyisithulu

ukhona mumbe…

ukhona mumbe, nanomawubani ...

mumbe,

nomawubani,

nawe qobolwakho

masibambisaneni siphelise lomkhuba.

A Brief Biography of Lindiwe Nkutha

Lindiwe Nkutha was born in Soweto to Mandla and Thandile Nkutha. Trained as an accountant and now working as a business development consultant, Lindiwe has come to heed the message that she has heard life whisper into her eyes and ears. She has spent most of her time honing her skills into various media, including photography and videography to complement her newly-acknowledged vocation to tell stories.

Some of her poetry has been published in feminist publications in the SADC region and read on stages of Jo'burg's underground poetry scene. A short film she made titled 'Muted Screams' was shown in South Africa and the United Kingdom. Her works as a photographer include 'This Way We Bleed' and 'Jocasta's Hairballs'.

Lindiwe's short stories appear in an anthology titled '180 degrees'. She is currently working on a novel.