1984-2008
Yesterday a star stopped lighting up the sky, She was 24. Even at such an early stage she had branded the hearts of all she met as if in haste to lay a map of her trajectory. Lelethu Lumkwana at 24 was a courageous and loving mother to Zenande who is 3 years old. Lelethu is the only child of Ma Lumkwana.
She had such an hunger for life that she became the Editor of True Love Babe, South Africa at an age when many would be exploring their options. She wrote as she lived as if to capture every minute of her presence here. I hope many remember her evoking prose about her visit to Lagos that was posted on these pages. She was my friend , my protege, my running mate. Infuriating, exquisite, exasperating, exciting, she fully understood that complexity is not complication. She was complex and quite driven to express it.
Lelethu, God has been forgiving, life exciting and love fully expressed. Sleep well lovely Zim. You are now part of the wind that travels the world, the blazing rays of the sun, the gentleness of the morning dew, the depth of the late night. You my friend are now beyond the mundane, the pedestrian, the daily grind of averageness. You my friend are now part of the great oneness that is GOD.
Sun re!
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
If only you knew Leeza
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
so soorrry for your loss!
i do remember that beautiful post..
my condolence to u and her loved ones.
may God grant her family comfort and strength.
this must be a very emotional day for u!
i came here to celebrate with u on the Obama victory.
take care.
Wale, I had the pleasure of actually meeting her in South Africa. A searingly precocious young woman who had a special kind of fire the will burn through time, space and transitions. Events like this are hard to fully understand. But may the God Lord grant her family and her friends the fortitude to deal with the loss of this gem. May her soul rest in peace.
Tunji
she was indeed a remarkable young women...
Hey Avatar....
I remember how we laughed and jousted in Jo'burg in February this year with Lelethu and others.
I remember also that the day before she arrived there was a double rainbow in the sky and I wondered...this was the season for double rainbows for me...I remember phoning you in exaltation in Dec 2006, before we got to South Africa, because I had just seen my first Double Rainbow. And you laughed and told me of your own experience, seeing a Double Rainbow somewhere in the Caribbean. I was walking down the road to the guest house where the British Council had put us...we were there to facilitate the launch of the African Science Cafes network.
I remember thinking "A double rainbow?.....a double promise?...I will never leave you...I will never leave.....I will never again devastate the earth of its people....though the people exasperate me.....though they turn away from me....I will wait for them in love...I wil send a Saviour. The God of A Second Chance". I took it to mean just me really at the time....but God does not just waste his imagery....he is much more complex than that.
So I met Lelethu and what a curious and ethralling joy her presence was.....truly I recognised and loved her at once. Two Only children....often bound by our internal, solitary intense monologues......thirsting for dialogue.....anxious for life to begin....easily irritated....bored by the pace of present time.
I feel for my sister now. How often the desire overwhelms.....to be fast forwarded into the next realm...the next manifestation...the greater domain.
I recognise her love, I applaud her growing genius, I bow to the domination of God over these realms of time.
I know that we shall encounter our sister's spirit again....it will affect us and others........and empower us to always ask for more.
Until then...I need you to know that yesterday, around 4pm, as I walked down the hill, heavy with the news of her death...with my swollen heart....the Lord offered another Double Rainbow....The Double promise.....I took a picture to capture the moment and will post it to you too.......never forsaken...never forgotten.
Stay Strong Rainbow Zanzibar......X
leza would me missed...dearly!
Post a Comment