Written piece
Many hands
Phumlani Vimbelasizwe Shiba
Eswatini
About this piece
Original
I’m a poet, coach, and mechanic from Eswatini. My threads explore connection across the Commonwealth, the work of fixing — cars, kids’ confidence, words — and the way we travel with our roots. This quilt holds many voices, and I’m honoured to add mine.
English translation
I’m a poet, coach, and mechanic from Eswatini. My threads explore connection across the Commonwealth, the work of fixing — cars, kids’ confidence, words — and the way we travel with our roots. This quilt holds many voices, and I’m honoured to add mine.
Many Hands
Theme: the quilt metaphor, many voices
We are not one cloth
but many threads pulled tight —
siSwati with English,
steelpan with sitar,
a mechanic’s grease under a poet’s nail.
From Manzini to Malta,
Port of Spain to Perth,
we stitch our stories edge to edge
and call it home.
The quilt is never done.
It breathes with every voice added.
Here’s mine.
English translation
Many Hands
_Theme: the quilt metaphor, many voices_
We are not one cloth
but many threads pulled tight —
siSwati with English,
steelpan with sitar,
a mechanic’s grease under a poet’s nail.
From Manzini to Malta,
Port of Spain to Perth,
we stitch our stories edge to edge
and call it home.
The quilt is never done.
It breathes with every voice added.
Here’s mine.