History is usually written by the victors
Except when the victors do not write
At Isandlwana, a kop or tor
In Zululand, near Sandspruit
Amabutho, warrior descendants of Shaka king
Demolished Chelmsford’s command
The Empire’s strength now a weakling
Marked by piles of rocks, arranged in the sand
The triumphant impis took their fallen home
Talked of the battle for generations
But no record made, no eponymous poem
Instead the British re-wrote the valedictions
The next day, one hundred soldiers, many from Wales
Resisted a four thousand assagi-wielding hoard
At Rorke’s Drift, an epic in the tales
Of valor, and pride restored
Memorials and tributes to Williams’ and Evans’ abound
For over a hundred years, the battleground had no Zulu presence
In 2005, a leopard, symbol of Shaka, silently found
Its way in and lies protecting the shields defence
Umlahlankosi, the thorn bush in the ground
Standing guard over the spirits essence
Rorke’s Drift, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa
