‘Lesea’ by actor, director, facilitator and writer Katlego ‘Kaygee’ Letsholonyana is another vernacular Poetry Minute offering. Kaygee was born in Dinokana (North West Province) and much of his writing is in his mother tongue - Setswana.

The making of ‘Lesea’ sparked an animated discussion around the act and nature of translation. Furthermore the effect it has on authorship. As Kaygee reflects: ‘Many of my ideas of how I wanted this piece to turn out were already being explored by other Poetry Minute participants. I got stuck. One day my daughter, Warona, took my bicycle lights and we started playing. Flickering them in a dark room, creating different shadows ... I then started writing ‘Lesea’. Translating it was simple, but the poem lost its meaning altogether. I thought "die den gae dire sense". I was confused and troubled. How would I share the same understanding of my text with people who do not speak Setswana? A dear friend of mine introduced me to Frances Gillis Webber's translations. It was fulfilling to learn that translation does not always have to lose the writer’s intention. After playing and exploring, I decided to go with a direct translation of select lines of the poem - constantly trying (very hard) to keep the meaning’.

The clumsy, literal translation is light and comical. It makes sense of the Setswana text without relying on English idioms, proverbs and adages that run somewhat parallel. The shadows, while playful, point to something more poignant. The potential for the author’s intent to recede into the distance where it remains an echo that reverberates somewhere between language and meaning.

LESEA
Created by | Katlego “Kaygee” Letsholonyana
Cinematography and Editing by | Noah Cohen
Sound recording by | Zain Vally

A Poetry Minute is curated by Bongile Gorata Lecoge-Zulu