love letters

hello blog world it's been... hasn't it.
Well when last did you receive a letter, conventional or otherwise? the otherwise being an email or text notes...

Something that does not happen often these days is communicating. I watched The Talk the the other day, SA's a bit behind season wise, anyhow on this day the ladies of The Talk discussed how they communicate with their spouses via email or texting, one of the ladies said they used it as a tool to fight with their hubby, whilst some said they enjoyed the occasional email or text like enjoy your day or how is your day so far...

Yesterday what made my day is that i saw a tweet on one of my all time favourite songs by Mbongeni Ngema, that every black person calls ithambo lam lekentucky which is one of the lines in the song, the actual title being: Stimela sam sase Zola... the tweet was saying that every man should sign off the letter like that...

I listenedd to the song that flooded my early life partly due to the women of my family, Note: this was the time of cassette players and turntables, so my aunts had a cassette with one song recorded on it that song was Mbongeni Ngema's Stimela sam sase Zola...... #beautifulmemories of growing up

That song is such a beautifully articulated vernacular love letter in song....
talks of the woman being his umbrella shielding him from the sunshine... to saying i love you even when you"re spitting fire( ngikthanda nom uvutha baby).... He then says  you touch me and i rise like selfraising flour (wangthinta ndakhukhumala)... the song speaks of resting on her derrière after  a hard day's work (NGIYOPHUMULA KUWE EDAIRY)....

I sat listening to this song realising that it was one of my first ever love songs in vernac that i had heard as a child and just how i enjoyed listening to it playing  non-stop courtesy of the aunts whose favourite song it was at the time. I move to today's time and realise that men don't speak in this currency of value, appreciation is minimal of the women in their lives that said i don't believe all men are like this either.
i used to write letters and i miss that intimate space but more than anything i believe letter writing still has a space in this world of technological comm's....

Take time out and write a love letter to someone, it doesn't have to be romantically inclined but it could come from a place of love and filled with softness and kindness and good thoughts.