Madiba

all friends of freedom mourn the passing of Madiba

it is said that

a prophet finds no honor

in his own country

their hard truths

boldly spoken

are heard as a

wretched cacophony

threatening to melt

the caked wax

blocking the closed

intolerant ears of

intransigent

powers

Madiba

once found no

personhood

in his homeland

his people driven

from their land

by Voortrekkers

snortling Boers

gobbling the land

uprooting native

people from villages

and regions they

once occupied

since the dawn

of time

spilling Zulu blood

into roiling rivers

of injustice

meeting peaceful

petitions of the

aggrieved with

Sharpsville bullets

splattering

the blood of

innocents onto

hardscrabble roads

redressing crimes

against the innocent

by corralling them onto

denuded Bantustans

where rivers do not

flow, grass never grows,

game cannot graze;

only the dust doth blow

riddling the captives

with with torments of

Transvaal Apartheid,

mocking the speakers

of mother tongues with

the fained eloquence

of bastardized Afrikaans

the dominion of the

oppressors, sanctioned

and affirmed by exiling

a people from their land,

outlawing their language,

dividing the nations into

a fallacy of separate

destinies where a forgetful

history blessed with amnesia

will anoint the conquerors

with the spoils of abundance

stolen from the vanquished

Madiba spoke of these things

and was awarded a prison

cell for twenty seven years

but the hostages of feigned

justice are always destined

to be freed by the arrival

of an accepted truth

set free by the very words

prophetically spoken

prisons cannot contain truth

steel bars cannot imprison

the divine justice of an idea

it slips through the smallest openings

like a wafting fragrance of the first day of spring

it saws away at the rust strewn steel bars

like the surest movement of a master carpenter’s arm

it melts the thickest links of iron chains

in the fiery forges that burn in the hearts

of all freedom loving people

the truth of justice

is born and takes flight

on the wings of history

covering the globes

cardinal ordinates

nesting in the most

humble villages

and mean estates

on God’s good earth

truth and reconciliation

can never be separated

planted together to grow

healthy nations and

communities of

trust and restoration

Madiba, you always

found honor with

the salt of the earth

the children of light

who seek to dispel

the darkness of

acrimony and 
domination

we continue to

walk your way

guided by your

prophetic visions

we take the first steps

asking liberators to join

with oppressors, pairing

in a magnanimous walk

along wholesome pathways

perceiving the buena vistas

of reconciled communities

firmly established 
on foundations

of peace, equality 
and justice for all citizens

I caught a fleeting glimpse of Madiba

as he rolled by in the Canyon of Heros

showered under a June blizzard of confetti

and a resounding acclimation of love.

I was a plebe inhabiting a lower floor

Broadway office, yet my station blessedly

brought me closer to Madiba.  As he passed

I was moved by his miraculous smile and felt

the colossal reverberations of his waving arm

triumphantly hailing the sweet freedom of

liberation all hostages of feigned justice

exude in the vindication of divine justice

in the triumph of affirmed truth.

Dearest Madiba

we are enriched

and blessed for

the time you walked

among us.  

You fought

the good fight

my brother.

Rest easy

for we shall resume

the climb to

the next mountaintop.

Well done Madiba

Godspeed

Rolihlahla “Nelson” Mandela

7/18/18 - 12/5/13 

Ladysmith Black Mombazo

How Long

Oakland

12/6/13
jbm

Reviews

[r. f. jordan]

"prisons cannot contain truth

steel bars cannot imprison

the divine justice of an idea"

there are few poets alive or dead, published or unpublished, acclaimed or unknown, who sing to the core of all that stands for the sublime as well as you do. Your poetry, to me, has an unparalleled sense of grandeur. There is a universality to it that stands outside of era, outside of genre, outside of limit. You inspire, in me, a knowledge that all that is beautiful is even more beautiful than it seems. al that has to be done is a poignant examination of whatever subject matter is before me, with an intent toward those ideals in this world I cherish most. indelibly, in that moment, my reality as your reader becomes a better place. Thank you, dear poet, for all that you so aptly encompass.