Utenzi wa Da' Gloria

Gloria D. Gonsalves

Jamani Nampenda

Jamani nampenda,
kaka yule wa kisambaa,
lakini hanielewi,
ninapotamka mahaba.

Wee mndele una nini,
hata honga hujui,
na dumange lako kutu,
mie namkunda Makibua.

Sikukata tamaa kamwe,
nikajaribu bahati yangu,
kaka naitangwa Mamtoi,
natokea Korogwe.

Kughamba kishambaa huteia,
Kiimo na kudika pia shida,
niache nikagoshe,
huko kwako seniuye.

Jamani nampenda,
kaka huyu Shekalaghe,
laiti Mzee Shauri angalikuwepo,
angenisaidia kumzindika.

Translation:

Dear me, how I love him,
that Sambaa man,
but he understands not,
when I speak of love.

Woman what have you,
you can’t hello in Kisambaa,
and you lack mdumange skills,
I had rather love Makibua.

I did not give up,
and tried my luck in his dialect,
my name is Mamtoi,
I come from Korogwe.

You are unable to speak Kisambaa,
neither can you farm nor cook,
let me go to sleep,
and shall not return to yours.

Dear me, how I love him,
this man named Shekalaghe,
if late Shauri was alive,
he would help me charm him.

*Other translations: Kisambaa (language of Sambaa tribe found in Usambara mountains of Tanzania), mdumange (traditional dance of the Sambaa people), Shauri (a Sambaa man R.I.P, who popularized mdumange dance in the media and was a traditional healer)*