"madiba" poems
you were just one man.
jailed for infinity.
you never bent.
stronger than steel.
oppressed from day one.
segregated by your skin.
you were never broken.
stronger than steel.
the odds were against you.
against your entire race.
your faith never wavered.
stronger than steel.
i walked where you laid.
where you eat, where you ran.
your land gave me strength.
stronger than steel.
your love was so unending.
your hate, no where to be found.
you saved a who nation.
stronger than steel.
Madiba. Madiba.
Nelson Mandela
the original superman.
Stronger then Steel.
Oct 30, 2014
Oct 30, 2014 at 1:06 AM UTC
I can't end the year this way,
the title of this piece won't sway,
It is not an anchor to hold the stay,
but wait and listen to the choir singing
as they practice in the church hall down
the road, with too many cars, so listen...closely
and you may hear the high notes on
a night clear like this, just like this,
the information that swirls on and on,
about people, places and events,
homeless people kicked out of the park and tents,
political figures mishapen by absolute power,
absolute greed,
absolution to them a quick rinse in a shower,
more information feed my gluttonous mind,
I absorb none of it as there is newnews to find,
there is a woman out there
who has a reputation for causes,
wicked witch in the East beyond Oz,
gut check as some said
world paused to remember well,
so much left to do there as well,
Oh Africa!
The world's greed for your resources,
makes nasty fodder for the choices,
as to who is in charge this week.
So much pain, it is plain to see I can't write about it all, it would take an eternity.
A loss this year like no other, but a life to celebrate, who will Madiba motivate?
Natural disaster, filled with remorse after the eye of and storm has passed,
loved ones looking their loved ones lost, some evil gang backfills, a brand
of poison into the the void, the pain the anguish, in lives,
to steal the aid and make it their prize, to be aportioned at their will and price.
And George is back in the news...sad, so many things this year that make me
want to ball up my fists and punch the air, walk down the streets until I begin
to shout and let it out, harm no more, harm no more, anniversaries of bullets,
and little ones who touched, so many with who they were, I wonder who they would
have been,
I am not being flip and this is not Christianese, but God knows as the spirits they are
and He is.
There is no one poet
who can say it all,
there is no one place
that tears did not fall,
this may be a wrap up,
I have left so much out
and it falls so short,
maybe the ink I spill
is wrongly placed.
Tomorrow night at midnight, let's just embrace REFRESH!
not forgetting
lessons learned
poetic stripes
maybe earned
by writing or typing or wiping away tears
I could go one, but that is one of my fears,
...losing you.
©DWE122013
Dec 30, 2013
Dec 30, 2013 at 10:04 PM UTC
1976:
black boy, black boy,
we shot you --
nothing left
in your small, shiny black shoes;
your tidy school uniform
2013:
white boy, white boy,
we will not shoot you --
nothing right
in your big, broken black shoes;
your untidy school-form --
instead, we will not teach you
white boy, we will not teach you:
English is for black schools --
Madiba, Madiba:
the jacarandas of Pretoria are dying;
the mimosas in the bushveld
have taken the Acacia tree's name
and beneath the soil,
the roots of South Africa are still
growing, exactly the same?
Dec 8, 2013
Dec 8, 2013 at 3:26 PM UTC
Obama jetted
back to Africa
soaring aloft on
gulf stream swank
a posse of
oil company execs
in tow, intent on liberating
Dark Continent
fossil fuels from unjust
underground prisons
American
entrepreneurs
angling to get the
upper hand in the
high stakes global
resource poker game
pulled a big time race card
to trump China’s
full house
On Goree Island,
political paparazzi
popped and clicked
a perfect image
of the neocolonial
white clad President
framed in a doorway filled
with dark shadows and
heinous memory of the
unspeakable horrors
of global trade
leering from
the portal at the
Gate of No Return
Obama welled with
meditative epiphanies
of personal seachange,
and the vicissitudes of life,
pondering his meteoric rise
from a Land of Lincoln
State Senator to
American President
in the span of
one golden
9/11 decade
At a
South African University
Town Hall Summit,
the fist bumpin,
mike droppin Prez
telepromted the
star struck folks with
solemn universal civil rights
pronouncements,
wrapped in the riddle of
the pursuit of peace,
hidden in the enigma of
the reverence for
human dignity
Later in the day
Mr. Obama sat at the
feet of a comatose Mandela;
whispering into his ear
why an Afghan peace
eludes him, why his
drone strikes rain
death upon innocents
and why his democratic
republic defiles
the civil liberties of its
citizens to ransom
a daily diet of fear
But Madiba does not hear
Mr. Obama’s feverish
confessions; his
ears are closed,
he dreams only
of the paradise of
liberation he earned
for his life's hard wages
Music Selection:
Gil Scott Heron
Western Sunrise
Oakland
070213
jbm
Jul 2, 2013
Jul 2, 2013 at 11:14 AM UTC
When I hear FEMINISM, RACISM, SEXISM, IMMIGRATION
or the TORTURE OF A NATION,
my mind cries
and my eyes go blank.
Children ****** waving to their teacher
Their teacher waving back
A grenade is launched
and chunks of her pained memory soar through the windows of the bus.
War just won't stop.
In the Internet,
White-washed Latinos diss their mother's birth
throw stones at their father's graves.
Praise Uncle Sam
Although Caucasians are abusing them because of their skin pigmentation
Oh great U.S.A.
Who incarcerated Madiba and murdered MLK.
Killed more humans than Adolf and now want to buy them.
With a small piece of useless land in New Mexico and Kentucky Fried Chicken.
You PATHETIC CHICKEN
who wants to own the world even though you haven't been here one stinkin millennium.
A decade of power and now you patrol the streets.
please
You can't even patrol your own streets
please
Dec 17, 2013
Dec 17, 2013 at 11:21 AM UTC
He was the voice of those who had no voice,
The spokesman for the oppressed.
He became a true hero to the downtrodden,
Who had been denied their basic human rights.
There were those who tried to stop him,
But he proved himself a true force of nature.
Because you can arrest the man,
But you can't arrest his vision.
And while they could lock him in a cell,
They could not lock away his ideas.
And while they could put shackles on his body,
They could not put shackles on his dreams.
And those dreams live on,
To the very ends of the Earth,
In every classroom where black and white
Learn side by side.
In every place of worship,
Where young and old gather together,
In every peaceful demonstration,
Where tyranny falls, and liberty reigns triumphant.
And in the cry of every newborn,
That they be born into a world of hope and tolerance,
Where equality and civil rights are the norm.
For you can bury the man, but not his beliefs.
And though his voice may be silent,
His spirit will live on and on.
12-31-13.
Jan 1, 2014
Jan 1, 2014 at 12:43 AM UTC
O Madiba! Madiba your ship has finally come to rest
Rest now, now rest, for peace was your bequest.
Humiliated, disgraced, yet in captivity you chose
By embracing your enemy, you learnt and rose.
Insulted, assaulted, assaulting, at fault,
Lover, Soldier, for Justice, for God’s sake!
Stop work, break bread, water and salt
And follow in his wake.
O Madiba! Tata Madiba you who have overcome
A true mandala spun, a Nelson who has won
Overcoming loneliness, cowardice and fear.
Bravery but a blindness brought on by all held dear.
Shame, defeated, blame, defeated, fame -
Let all come, let all shake,
Same blood, same, all the same,
And follow in his wake.
Dec 14, 2013
Dec 14, 2013 at 12:07 PM UTC
What's the Word?
candles lit held high
"JOHANNESBURG!!"
above the marching crowds
What's the Word?
Madiba
"JOHANNESBURG!!"
Madiba
Madiba
Madiba
Dec 5, 2013
Dec 5, 2013 at 8:57 PM UTC
A man who fought for freedom
Is frail and old yet remembered
For all his contributions and sacrifices
He made to rid all types of discrimination
In the early years a Law Degree
Seemed perfectly suiting
Boxing made him tough like a brute
But his soul-passive, polite and caring
A role-model to everyone
Who said, "Debate, no guns!"
A peace_maker for all
A teacher for all
Even in darkest hours
His humilty, nobility and responsibility
Is but a few of what we can reap of his success
27years of incarceration
All for the fight of discrimination
His sacrificed time
In quarries of lime
A day that they remembered
A day that they paraded
With happiness and delight
1994
People in queues of snakes
Waited for a chance to cast their first vote
*We salute you TATA MADIBA
Thank you for your valiant services*
Jul 18, 2013
Jul 18, 2013 at 1:10 PM UTC
Your legacy lives on beyond your death
You were constant in prison and palaces
You character was beyond fear or favour
You tempered justice with abundant mercy
You extended your hand of forgiveness
You turned the other cheek in impossible times
You taught us that reconciliation is possible
You saw a future beyond the present crisis
You cast off any illusion of being a hero god
You taught us that freedom comes at a cost
You reminded us that to lead is to serve
You gave our nation and the world special gifts
You gave us gifts of love, unity, faith and hope
Your legacy lives on as a bright light in our hearts
Mar 19, 2014
Mar 19, 2014 at 3:45 AM UTC
'Tata Madiba'
Father of the Nation,
Today you could have been 97 years,
but your journey of life was cut so short,
21 years years of democracy is what we will all remember you with,
Nelson Mandela,
the great fighter,
you tought us to love and be in unity,
your works we shall remember,
may your dear soul rest in peace forever,
while we still hold on to 67 minutes of Madiba day,
showing our love and care for our great nation as much as you did,
we love you Tata,
we honour your legacy,
together we still can because of your great dids,
'Halala Madiba Halala!!'
Jul 18, 2015
Jul 18, 2015 at 4:31 AM UTC
HOW I MOURNED MADIBA IN EXCESS
Alexander K Opicho
(Eldoret, Kenya; [email protected])
Rationality is antediluvian
Emotionalism is post napoleon
Shrewdness comes with the queen
Slyness a game of head boys
Strength ist meine Kampf
Bad dirgical mourning is mine
The dark son of Africa
My billow is love for humanity
Giving a **** the tick where it is due
Mourning heroes of the world
That battled for songs of freedom
In which cradled I the son of zinjathropus
To day Nelson Mandela is born
He is sired a new and again anew
Not the son of a chief but humbly
In humility as son of humanity
Dec 6, 2013
Dec 6, 2013 at 10:20 AM UTC
Away with the angels,
Mandela, he flies away with brilliant wings,
Joyfully smiling with heavenly beings,
He leaves behind, hypocrites, and crocodile spells.
Dec 6, 2013
Dec 6, 2013 at 9:58 AM UTC
O Madiba! My Madiba! by Walt Whitman (changing the word Captain for Madiba)
1
O Madiba! my Madiba! your fearful trip is done;
The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize you sought is won;
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Madiba lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
2
O Madiba! my Madiba! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up-for you the flag is flung-for you the bugle trills;
For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths-for you the shores a-crowding;
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Madiba! dear father!
This arm beneath your head;
It is some dream that on the deck,
You've fallen cold and dead.
3
My Madiba does not answer, his lips are pale and still;
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;
The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;
From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won;
Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!
But I, with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Madiba lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
Hi all and hope you are all well, haven't posted anything for a while but today I felt that this poem by the great Walt Whitman could pay tribute to one of my life long heroes Madiba or Nelson Mandela.
I hope Walt Whitman wont mind me substituting Madiba for Captain but his beautiful Poem which he wrote after the Death of his great hero of Abraham Lincoln just fits the occasion at least I think so!. Hope you all like it.
Best wishes to all Tom.
Dec 6, 2013
Dec 6, 2013 at 9:07 AM UTC
Arrested and convicted of sabotage,
Madiba resists the Apartheid.
We live and rest in good company,
while counterparts seek new shelter to hide.
Time has elapsed, and man discusses these changes,
of the past that has rotted away, which builds upon our ignorance.
Do you not see the same in existence,
the backwards, in truth, which our skin folk arranges?
Rewind or fast forward, backwards will remain the truth,
I will remain Madiba, President of Belief.
Trusting enough minds with similar desires,
may place an unwarranted end to all others’ grief.
Swimming through a crowd of faces,
painted shades I witness unfolding.
We are but fingers on a hand, separate yet together,
Booker claimed this truth as a new era began molding.
Yet is this era really new; Are we to believe the past is past,
as I witness starvation, corrupt education, and abandoned dreams?
My kin folk inform and educate my evolving mind,
of hidden conceptions that my skin folk blatantly screams!
I am able to speak with my mother, knowing she is safe,
grateful that our family must not live in fear.
But why must some of us remain unused,
when our help is called for year after year?
Indira has communicated,
that you cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.
The fingers, which are part of the whole, clasp tightly,
for my skin folk, not my kin folk, are amidst.
There are racial issues, undoubtedly,
in the land of the free, home of the brave.
And all over the world it reigns,
you cannot be blind to it, that we have a modern slave.
This is not a physical destruction,
you will not witness it branding the skin.
But a mental and spiritual deterioration,
directed, and has infected,
most of my kin.
Sep 25, 2014
Sep 25, 2014 at 5:04 PM UTC
Through time,
Stars continue to illuminate,
Billions of miles,
Long, long after death:
R.I.P Nelson Mandela.
Dec 6, 2013
Dec 6, 2013 at 7:48 AM UTC
His light is out
But, the sky is brighter
Prisoner 46664
The Worldly fighter
His battle over
The fight still on
Prisoner 46664
His being gone
A man of compassion
Now at rest
His Legacy now
Will be the true test
His body is resting
His light in the sky
A man of the people
No Madiba....No Cry
Dec 6, 2013
Dec 6, 2013 at 6:37 AM UTC
No words of mine are good enough
I am happy you are free again
Dec 7, 2013
Dec 7, 2013 at 6:08 AM UTC
People attending the London premiere of a new film about Nelson Mandela were told of his death as the closing credits rolled, on 5th December 2013. My new poem is written in honor of the anti-apartheid icon and I invite you to read it here https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lights-Madiba-Action/345492948926266 .
Like it, share it and get privileged access to my writings.
Iulian-Anton Brudiu
Dec 20, 2013
Dec 20, 2013 at 12:10 PM UTC
They took them…
With a *** shovel and beards engulfed with disguise,
By fire, by force and harm
They heartlessly took them…
Loading with a military van from the snare, the school
Sabotaging their education and jubilance
At the brink of our oculus, like a hot blade through margarine,
Like the evanescence of dew upon new dawn,
They were gone…
We cajole to Haram Islamic militants,
Not the slavery we signed up for,
Yet this is our story, but not our destiny.
It is profane and sacrilegious to talk slavery upon our realms.
Our ancestral dormancy and Jesus crucifixion outlines our history.
We were untrammeled...but today,
Our existence is dreary and clouded by mystery
We count minutes turning into tormented hours,
In lament of our own flesh and blood
They took them..
with needles and stylus they pinched poked and taunted us,
Like a bunch of sponges filled with voids,
Our hearts are painfully porous,
Dope them with defects,
Bring back our girls…
Haram saboteurs came in with a saber,
They took them…
How less of a man to not respect the words of the late Tata Madiba,
When he said"Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land
Will again experience the oppression of one by another".
There will be war upon the element of Haram when Jesus intervene..
Bring back our girls..
(Nigreian acsent)
Chinekeee, man of Haram, bring back our girls_oo
I beg, why go they take?
Eeeh, god will go get you one day,
With our teary Nigerian eyes, will we ever see?
Adedagbo, our crown of joy ?
Aduke, our beloved ?
Afolayan Walking in majesty...
Agbogu, God settles dispute…
Bring back our girls.
Aug 25, 2014
Aug 25, 2014 at 1:28 AM UTC
Who will pick up the torch and light the way again,
keep us on the path of equality and right?
A soldier of love and truth has fallen,
the world is a more fragile place tonight.
Oh young ones look deep inside yourselves with wonder,
at why they could not break this little man.
Take up the reigns and lead the march to freedom,
pick up the torch and light the way again.
"For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."-Nelson Mandela 1918-2013
Dec 6, 2013
Dec 6, 2013 at 11:55 AM UTC
Big Mama Africa
Poor Mama Africa,
Madiba has gone.
Remember his dream
& move forward, as one.
Don't let his dream
be put down & forgotten;
by the schemes of the greedy,
the rogues & the rotten.
Dear, big Mama Africa,
your beautiful indeed
and rich enough to give your children,
all that they need.
So why is there such poverty,
starvation and despair?
There's wealth enough to go around,
if everyone would share.
But those who can, horde riches,
far more than they need.
Denying their own people,
with selfishness & greed.
You must get together
and speak, with one voice.
Across the land, shout your demand;
unite and then rejoice.
Briz 9/12/13
Mar 3, 2014
Mar 3, 2014 at 3:15 AM UTC
A Tribute to Nelson Madiba Mandela
A great hero once born is gone,
His legacy shall indeed prolong
All African leaders acclaim him as a hero,
He is a son of the roots, the African sun
Oh hear his heroic voice, our Idol
Oh let's scream his name, Mandela!
Oh hail the great Iroko, Madiba!
For freedom, did he fight?
He the age old lantern, source of light
His words' a symphony to our delight
Oh you awakening spirit of Africa,
Your voice heard in the Himalaya
Your memories forever in our hearts,
Your legacy remains till we part,
Oh the fighter still fights!
Madiba shall you rise again?
Shall the fighter fight again?
Oh so selfless a heart of love,
He's reached the heavens above
On earth we build him a grove
Oh this tribute We give to you,
Though the sun no longer shines on you,
In our hearts you remain engraved
From dawn to dusk, on your grave,
Shall birds sing of glory, it's true
Oh Mandela, Madiba, we miss you father
For freedom's sake, you did not surrender
Your seeds shall forever bloom,
In heaven the brides await their groom,
Your laughter did erase our gloom
Jan 22, 2015
Jan 22, 2015 at 9:43 AM UTC
Blooming down in the form of triangle.
Making learners wonder why beetroot is around there
Argument take place,clean there,broom there
but scary to touch.
Sgb were called in may day situation.
Questioning the guard.
What happened but no answers were responded.
Because building were secured and unsecured because of a broken window.
Some said is the period girls
Some said maybe is a cat who was chopped by broken window.
Lingering around like fig fruits,
Ready to fall.on madiba day it became the 67 minutes of watching that miracle blood.
All we had to say was only God knows what happened and only God knows how to deal with it
Jul 20, 2016
Jul 20, 2016 at 8:12 AM UTC
The air filled with discord on these killing days
I sat with Biko but did nothing to help but read Finer
Madiba sat busy in his cage mourning with the futile sages
In disquiet Lecture halls we called and voices rose higher
Then my errant pen rebelled and on paper fired in pent rage
Impertinent weeping heart wedded to agile immaturity
Spew words and scribble indictments bonanzas on fired lines
Tis the age of reason and now it's chimes for gospel solidarity
This is why 'n this is how to extract the sourness from the limes
Be it the irascibility of a fledgling's dossier handed to Authority
In that foolish morn and days of thunder the dye was cast
Vogue tirades in contemporary suits offers designer conclusions
The brothers of today embracing diversities in Structures vast
In palaces pigments open wide ensuing foreboding discussions
Flag immediately and contain for this is one that must not last
Biko sleeps peacefully with angels and rests in God's arms
Madiba walked free and danced freedom with all colours in tow
A nation finds itself with a bespoke tailor and plenty of new farms
Across the Atlantic a foreign voice was silenced and made to bow
For youthful innocuous tantrum yelling is not quite the ****** norm
copyright.12/01/2019@yensonAllrights reserved
Jan 12, 2019
Jan 12, 2019 at 7:17 AM UTC