Best Nelson Poems
Blessed with ingenuity, he fought advancing tyranny
That stormed the sea in twenty-three great warships sailing furiously.
That day, October twenty-first, saw Admiral Nelson at his worst,
As cannons roared, while gunners cursed. The times were changed, the tides reversed.
Lord Nelson, as an admiral brave with all his fleet defied the grave,
His native land and king to save:-- his life for freedom's cause he gave.
In but a half a dozen hours he humbled Europe's finest pow'rs,
And toppled Tyranny's highest tow'rs; yet Vict'ry found him crowned with flow'rs,
And not a place the crown to lay, on him, nor all who died that day
In sending Britain's foes away, across the stormy seas of grey.
N – either one of his parents
E - nvisage the route he would take,
L - eaving behind the security of a place called home,
S - earching for that elusive freedom
O - nly a few had the joy to experience
N - ever shying away from a challenge
M - aking the decision to give up his “freedom”
A - lbeit with rudiments, pursuing a dream, many dreamt but
N - ever had the tenacity to turn into reality,
D - arkened days with years of imprisonment followed
E - arnestly trying to convince the world that,
L - isting people differently, because of skin color build
A - nimosity and negate the fruition of freedom…
*This young man will turn 92 on Sunday, 18 July 2010*
Giant of justice has visited Baba Umkulukulu
The lion that gave in to wolves like sheep
To be sheered for our own freedom has died
Father of the black and white
Mentor and hero of freedom
Our own Madiba has died
Anti apartheid hero sleeps with grey hair
As we dress in sackcloth to mourn the great Lion
Rolihlahla Son of Thembu has rested
Though We mourn millions with pain
But for the son of Xhosa
We pray for
Instead of mourning
We praise
Praise our own
Rest in peace Mandela
Each time I raise my gaze to the night sky,
A million stars stare back, shedding happy tears of light.
And I cannot but stare back in delight,
Wondering which one of them holds your great soul.
Tell me, Old Nelson, do they--these stars--still shine upon
you?
Heaven should grant that they do,
For like them your example still shines upon us, pointing
to us the true north of life--
And, oh yes, this one great lesson: that life's struggles will
endure our stumbles but never our mumbles.
Yes! Our hopes may fall and our fortunes dip, but on their
feet our voices must keep.
Twenty-seven years did rough chains bind your feet,
And twenty-seven years did they girdle your breast,
But not once--never--did they bind your voice.
"Only free men can negotiate," you scoffed at your jailers,
scorning to barter your ideals for your freedom;
And to that crooked Boer court: "A free South Africa is the
great ideal for which I live, and if need be it is the one ideal
for which I will die."
Then to a bleeding, seething nation: "Let's break with the past."
From the flesh of these words a new nation was carved for
white, brown, and black alike.
Twinkle for twinkle it matches the skies,
And in its bosom you now rest forever: quiet, contented,
victorious!
Aluta continua
Was that word another message replaced
And the room spun dark as web
The tree no longer walks the night
The bush is silent on the veld
Madiba has passed the lion sleeping
Has left the fruit falling
Has left the children walking by the light
Of stars
Like Biko, telling him to come
And the women crying in Soweto
Azania like a long shadow falling
On our frozen consciousness:
The great man is free at last.
This freedom is a new kind without a new to come
Dawning on the memory of the world -
I stood for a minute when I heard
Broken again in my silence
By the subtle return of my chain
Of mortality, suffering under that brutal heel
And could not shake this death out of me
All of us dying eternally -
For the wages they paid, the pittance
That could not feed us
For twenty seven years of fragments
That reduces a man’s life to bandages of accolades
Madiba is gone
And I will not say farewell to a struggle that wears
Out a man, but will not retire itself.
It was a long sleep, comrade
But we will wake again, we wake
To the consciousness of your absence
That we must dig the hole for you
And plant the legacy tree of your courage
Inside the village of tomorrow.
Tired, I would sleep too, I would lay
Down and dream of Fidel outside Pretoria
That my chains are only cloth
And my dreams are balls of fire
Too far away, too futile
Twenty seven years of anger, where I
Shoot and die, another star like Biko
We all are dead long before you left
I knew that when I stood
For a minute silence and did not breathe.
Who are you to dream of chains
And yet proclaim of victory
How do you lie in chains
And yet stand in liberty
When do you pay a debt
That must be paid
What makes you forgive a debt
That must be forgave
In a time of hostility
With the trembles of an oncoming war
You held it in and did not cry
As long before
Your face remained
Lifted toward the sky
Your fire within made you an enemy
Yet a much needed ally
Your words gave peace to those deeply wounded
By the treacheries of man
Your joy gave hope a new mission
Thus hope called love again
Love answered
And summoned faith to come
Faith remembered your prayer
And gave birth to freedom
Many born will choose paths in search of glory and fame
And after the dust has settled, not much value remains
Nelson “chose” with open eyes and a passion-filled heart
Despite physical pain and degradation, love kept his soul apart
Evil, he shunned when it would've been easy to embrace
Love, he championed throughout the marathon race
And now at last, peacefully, touched the finish line!
~*~
Note: In Honor of Nelson Mandela 7/18/18 - 12/5/13 +RIP
Thou
great
son
of
the
land!
Salute!
Salute!!
We
Salute
thee!!!
An
unwavering
patriot,
undaunted
mountain.
British
admiral
and
nava
hero.
Toulon
submitted
to
thy
naval
prowess.
At
Calvi,thy
right
eye
was
obliterated,thou
was
not
shaken.
Thy
prominient
role
led
to
victories
off
Cape
Saint
Vincent,the
nile
battle;
great
conqueror,Napoleon
Advanced
not
cos
of
thy
heroic
strikes.
With
amputated
left
hand,thou
took
on
with
the
battle-
cry
for
thy
fatherland.
Created
Duke,a
vice-
admiral,more
services
thou
accepted:
in
battle
of
Copenhagen,thy
rare
abilities
manifested-
in
gratitude,a
Viscount
thou
became.
Battle
of
Trafalgar
1805
French
and
Spanish
fleets
were
crushed.
Thy
personal
charge
in
thy
flagship"victory"
defeated
the
invasion
of
Napoleon.
Oh!
How
hath
the
mighty
fallen,forfeiture
of
thy
life,
a
paid
price
for
victory.
Rest
great
son
of
Britain,
for
in
hearts
of
all,thou
breatheth!
There was once a MAN;
An Iroko in a forest of shrubs,
A dew pond in a desert.
There was once a MAN;
A moral compass in a world
Where power is noble,
And greed a creed.
There was once a MAN;
He silenced the gun,
Shattered prison bars,
Ascended the throne, armed
With love and forgiveness,
And made despots jelly.
There was once a MAN:
NELSON MANDELA!
1908-1934 Not taken soon enough! Not only the good die young.
For Epigram Contest
By: Richard Lamoureux
By applying policies of apartheid
Or practising racial discrimination
Who want themselves or their clan
To be seen above than the rest of the world
People of this globe throw them down
But the man instead of pulling himself up
Bring up all in the line of equality
People of this globe push his stature above
Much more than the rest of humanity
Showing for him unprecedented respect and love.
Unkosi Rholihlahla Mandela,
born into the Madiba clan in the village of Qunu
grow up in Mvezo in Umtata,Transkei
Dalibhunga, the prince of the Tembu tribe
son of umama Nonqaphi Nosekeni
son of Nkosi Hendry Mphakanyiswa Gadla Mandela
father of South African freedom
ward of Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo
at the Great Place in Mqhekezweni
acting regent of the Thembu nation
boy from the Thembu royal homestead
icon of peace and justice.
sun that rises in the grim atmosphere
commander-in-chief of Umkhonto we Sizwe
dedicated himself to the struggle of the African people
South Africa’s greatest son
the greatest leader of our time
the giant of the South African history
the Son of Africa’s children
uBawomkhulu,
the man who pioneered the new patriotism in this unique country
the principal of his destiny
the commander of his soul
he represented hope and freedom
through his dignity, through his triumph, he inspired millions
the father of our nation
He who will live on in the hearts & minds of people throughout the world
the one who cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society
he who taught us reconciliation
he who embraced his enemies
one of the brightest lights of our world has gone out
a great tree has fallen
the son of a Tembu tribal chieftain is gone
Siyakuhlonipha
Tata Sizokukhumbula
Hamba kahle Tata!
How can such a mere mortal
Afford that contagious smile?
A smile of love and innocence
Smile of a man sans grudge
A smile that unites mankind
A haloed smile of great man
Whom the world deserves
A smile bringing hope to life
A smile of peace and tolerance
Treasured smile of an icon
Building bridges for humanity
A man who leads by love
Heroic smile of a unique man
Who forgives all aggressors
And vaunts the downtrodden
A smile frozen in bold history
Yet invaluable gift for the future
Rippling smile of inert humility
Of he God bestowed the world
To cherish and to emulate
To trace and trail smile of peace
Evocative of the immortal
Love of He who created man!
A song for Nelson Mandela who is in hospital.
18 July 1918
Mnvezo you gave birth
A birth to a son of Chief Henry
Mandela
In the land of the Bathembu
Tribe
You nourished your son with
great breasts
The breasts the never dried
out of milk
Fort hare and Wits university
The cleavage so huge,he did
not feel the distance
Both breast he could reach for
feeding his mind with wisdom
Rholihlahla the trouble make
As you were known back then
The trouble you started 1944
when-
When pulling the branches of
ANC
Leading them out of apartheid
era rather than to fire.
Fighting against whites
domination
Fighting against black
domination
You had a dream
A dream to see whites and
Blacks community living in
harmony
1964 to 1982 just before I
was born
Robin Island was you second
home
They predicted you will perish
there
Forgetting the meaning behind
your name
Rholihlahla! The trouble make
Just like a snare,11 feb 1990
befell them
The whole world felt the pains
as of pang pains
Indeed there were pang pains
preceding his resurrection
The Birth of first Black South
African president
The birth of new South Africa
A rainbow nations
The birth of international
Mandela day
Today people world wide
portray what you've fought for
Humanity, Harmony, Freedom
and peace
Mimicking your humanity, they
give willingly to the needy
27 years you reduced it to 67
minutes to benefit the less
fortunate
Under you wings we felt
secure
We never thought the one day
One day you cease living
6 Dec 2013 when the sun set
It set with the sad news
Tata is no more
15 December 2013
The chapter of great man closed
Qunu accepted his remians with joy
Son of the soil has returned to it with pride
Your Journey does not end
here
You left the world talking
Seeking ways to revive your
believes
They are concerned about
reviving you ideas
If they follow closely your
footsteps
They will find the way
R.I.P Tata
FOR YOU, TATA MADIBA
Nelson Mandela
The beauty of your being holds me close,
Embraced in the silence of tearful joy.
The wonder of Life manifest on earth
Echoes in the memory of the path you trod
In the name of humanity’s deepest desire.
The desire for freedom –
Freedom of the soul to express itself
According to the gifts bestowed by the heavens
At the very core of creation.
The heart of the universe pulses with the rhythm
Of your courage, humility and Love,
Compassion born of surrender to the forces of change,
The very fire formed on the anvil of hope
When eyes of Light turn to the skies
Where the lost years of one life
Become the catalyst for a cup of gold
Flowing with richness down the centuries.