O Shaka

O Shaka, my father, my father, fallen
To perfidy of deception
My amputated glory
On the golden glow of autumn
My terminus and my rejection
O Shaka, great Zulu, warrior, chief
Momentous man of destiny
That rode her horse unsaddled
Why did you trust that half hearted brother
After they gospelled him
The missionaries in false feathers
Promised thrity pieces of unpaid silver
And never paid again
Neither forty acres or the mule 
I cannot measure you by mass of their myth and history
So that I do today
Have nothing to show my children but a tale
Your daughter, my father's grandmother
Like a crumpled paper of genealogy avails
Little for the glory of a throne
And the private wonder
Who throw the dice for man's fate
Who before my face
Closed the undiscovered gate?
Copyright © | Year Posted 2009

Poem

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Strand Avatar
April 23, 2009 at 1:37 AM
A novelette L'nass in verse.Very grateful for your learned observations,which I truly value.Rgds Brian
Higgins Avatar
April 22, 2009 at 3:41 PM
You are a masterful writer who just captured a masterful warrior with words...his spirit lives in many..the fighter still roams.
Chircop Avatar
April 22, 2009 at 3:41 PM
this is rich and im glad i got to know it,you re a great poet and a great teacher too,keep posting my friend
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