For You to Understand
To be a jacket
To be a slave
To be a stepladder
To be forsaken
For you to understand
You must have a disability
To be a breast of money
For those who are abled
And be the belt
For civil servants
And be a grass mat for feet
The feet of the rich
The feet of the wealthy
For you to understand
You must have a disability
And ask for help day and night
No one will listen
The government and community
They all emphasize
They emphasize your worthlessness
And you also feel worthless
But for you to understand
You must have a disability
Discrimination has become obvious
To be undermined
People see a disability
And do not see a person
But for you to understand
You must have a disability
by Bongekile Joyce Mbanjwa
translation by Siphiwe ka Ngwenya
from Izinhlungu Zomphefumula
publisher Botsotso, Johannesburg, 2008