Christina's Sibiya's Lament: A Prose Poem

1. A woman sings by a tree outside an empty kraal, voice rising with the shadow on her face as the sun rises and her heart sinks. So many of his wives have died, so many have run away. They complain: Their wombs itch.

One woman gave birth to a baby that emerged from the womb clawing a silk sheath that wrapped him like a newborn goat. A bad sign, a curse -- a baby born like an animal.

Her own womb itches. She is afraid she shares this woman's disease that the doctors say her husband passed from one wife to the next.

Her body shakes with pain when she eats.

2. In the dampness of late afternoon, a woman sings. Her arms cup the sour sweat of bitter work, eyes leak sorrow like water from a broken jar. In the distance, the woman who poisoned her firstborn son, the King's heir. And the King's words in Christina's ears: "The evildoer knows I watch her. She dares not do anything else." Yet she walks free. She glances in Christina's direction, confident.

Something wraps around Christina's heart, warm and wet. Its strength strangles. She would wrap it around Solomon's neck, if she dared.

The other wives cook mealie meal while their children play in the shadow of the tree.

"Oh, husband, do not come to me this night. Solomon, where have you been these many nights, these months after our son's death? You deny me the comfort of love; tonight, I deny you my bed."

Everybody is as noisy as sudden rain on a still day. They do not hear her song.

But Solomon hears and he cannot believe his ears. Christina, his first wife, his one love, refuses to enter his bed.

3. A woman sings in the shadow of a large tree, voice faint yet the words strong. She sings a farewell song in the blood-stained dress, lifting swollen arms toward the king's kraal. Last night, Solomon beat her for the first time. It will be her last beating. She is leaving and she will not return.

Biographical Notes

Christina Sibiya of South Africa married Zulu King Solomon kaDinuzulu in 1915, when she was 15 years old. She was the first of dozens of wives. Many of the wives suffered: from jealously, from violence at Solomon's hand, and from venereal disease that he passed from wife to wife. Christina's love for Solomon and willingness to put up with his mind-games declined after her first born son died, poisoned by one of Solomon's other wives who was never punished. Christina left the royal household in 1931 after years of neglect and verbal abuse. She lived alone.

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic