Under the shadow
A voice suppressed
Power undermined
A tree bowed
A wire stretched
I am Madosini
My wintry Eastern Cape
The wretched of people
Disempowered in masses
Life labour in reserves
I am Madosini
Harvest of the voice
Melody of the wood
The string of the sound
The power of the feet
I am Madosini
Customised in Ubuntu
Indigenised in the land
The hewers of wood
Drawers of water
I am Madosini
The haunt of a dream
The dangling umrhube
The ancestor must be lying
A childhood of sound?
I am Madosini
Chased by the bow
Arrowed by umrhube
Endited by uhadi
Bowed to the calling
I am Madosini
Nowhere to somewhere
The world calls my name
Sound pierces the royal
Bow of the honourable
I am Madosini
Heavenly water for honours,
fell on my lap
Tradition recognised,
custom rewarded
The feet of the stage,
move the excellences
Life of my people displayed
I am Madosini
The tree of the wild
The string of the mine
The tiny calash of the field
The frail hands
The old voice
The sound in the string
Warm the hearts
I am Madosini
Even as I sleep,
in peace of eternity
The world knows,
I was there.
The future will tell,
My good story of life.
The gift of tradition,
was the pride of my being.
I am Madosini.
By Gaba