Njabulo Madela Poet Elegy

I have accepted

They said the dreams carried messages of you,
They said I should no longer wait,
that I should hurry to your bedside.
Though they wished to soften the truth,
everything stood bare before me —
Death had already wrapped itself around you.

I accepted the pain as your steps drifted from mine,
I accepted the fading of your scent
as it was carried away by a grieving wind.
I breathed it in and believed,
I prepared myself to release you,
even though releasing you was not easy.
But I had already accepted it —
Illness had long been wrestling you,
harvesting the remains of your strength.
To me, it was a storm of torment;
to you, it was the rest you longed for,
the loosening of pain that held you captive,
pain that narrated your suffering.
Seeing you at peace, I capitulated and
accepted too.

You have gone — do not worry.
I will keep our little ones safe,
I will raise them, protect them.
Do not worry — we accepted it together.
Your path is the path that awaits us all.
Rest now,
for I have accepted.

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