Lebogang Mashile

I KNEW A GIRL ONCE

língua: inglês

Traduções : alemão (ICH KANNTE MAL EIN MÄDCHEN )

I KNEW A GIRL ONCE

I knew a girl once who lived in a house made of skin
With the spine of time stretched through it
The slightest wind would make it spin
It trapped a symphony of voices
An escalading cacophony of whirlwinds
Each one a pinpoint in time
An etched groove in her mind
But she refused to unravel
Terrified of what she might find

Instead she spent her days living from the outside in
She wore badges of silence
And learned to bend with most winds
And when the horns would blow
She’d let their fury reign from within
Protected by falsehoods and pride
A thick societal skin
But to the world she glowed
Like the moon and sun’s origins
Wrapped up in someone else’s skin
That’s when the whispers begin
That she was coloured by incest
Coloured by date rape
Coloured by pretense
False representations
False mandates

Open your eyes
Realize when your true voice calls
That no lies will hold it within
Every day of your life a new truth you will write
But with your eyes closed you will spin

August 2003

Lebogang Mashile

Foto © private

* 07.02.1979, Estados Unidos
vive em: , África do Sul

Lebogang Mashile (1979) is a young performer, writer and facilitator who was born to exiled South African parents in the United States. She has been living, studying, learning and growing up in South Africa since her family came back home in 1994. Mashile studied law and international relations at Wits University.

Lebogang Mashile is one of the most important poetry performers in South Africa. Her publications and performances have had a decisive impact on the world of young female poetry.

Foto © gezett.de

Mashile uses a very powerful poetic language characterized by extraordinary musicality. The performance of her poems accompanied by a band recorded on the CD Lebo Mashile Live! shows to what extent her poems are closely linked to the performing act.

In 2003, together with other South-African poetesses she founded the Feela Sistah! Spoken Word Collective. In 2004, she was nominated for DaimlerChrysler South Africa Poetry Award and in 2006 she was awarded with the Noma Award for Publishing in Africa.

In the film Hotel Ruanda by Terry George she made her debut as an actor. Moreover, she is the producer and presenter of a documentary serial, which presents the everyday life of South African women.

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