Lest we forget by VS Yonke

Lest we forget
and our ideals desert
as dried bones in a desert

the sacrifice made
the price paid

into earth their blood seeped
up to the sky bodies heaped

the youth of seventy six
who laid freedom's bricks

Biko, Hani, Tambo
Nalucanda uhambo (you set out the journey)
Nalufeza ugqatso (you completed the race)

Sayifumana inkululeko ngegama (we received freedom in name only)
Iziqhamo zayo anazingcamla (its fruits you never tasted)
Noko zona sezibukrakra (though they have become sour)
Ulutsha lusifa yingculaza (the youth dying of aids)

Ngamaxa ndizive ndizibuza (at times I ask myself)
Yiyo lenkululeko na (is this the freedom)
Ubomi benu nazincama (you sacrificed your lives)
Vukani sizwe esimnyama (rise up black nation)

Eternally you slept
Silently we wept
Let us not forget

Let the words of the poet
Be the truth serum to inject
Consciousness so we remain alert
To unchain our mental shackles yet
So we may not forget
And not regret, lest we forget

© Vuyokazi Yonke