CECYL, SON OF OUR SOIL : CONSUMMATE REVOLUTIONARY
{Poet’s Note : I wrote this poem for the passing of my very dear friend & comrade, Cecyl Esau, Umkhonto we Sizwe Commander in 2021, as a contribution to his memorial service. Cecyl was given a full Provincial Military Official Funeral. Though the reading was filmed & recorded as part of the proceedings, I recently kept dreaming about Cecyl. I realised that he wanted me to post the poem here. So now I am doing just that, with my love for him, & trust it will be found by some of the soldiers he commanded, who are still living. Cecyl was sentenced for 12yrs imprisonment on Robben Island for his political cum military activity. He later joined the Institute of Justice & Reconciliation, continuing to strengthen Democracy in South Africa, before his passing }
CECYL : SON OF OUR SOIL : CONSUMMATE REVOLUTIONARY
U stood there
Magnetic
our sacred Cause ingrained
in your palms
expecting nothing but
what a moment would bring
white smile ready
aware of every tiny move in
a congested hostel room
stripping every youthful
illusion with a glance of
undying delicate
Love
Speaking to our awakening Souls
twinkling merry eyes sharp
moulded from the molten centre
of our shackled land
A confident rod steadfast
in the knowledge of sure
Victory
Cecyl, you clenched your fists
with childlike savvy
age-old African glory
your anger altogether
pure, clear, controlled
black crown unkempt
absolute in a knowingness
that Truth was the flip side of
Justice
Your unassuming simplicity
was beguiling, even enchanting
your gait quick
when quick was the order
of the day
your amble sure when
surety demanded it
your rush determined
as determination
filled your every fibre
your “I must” became
“We will !”
Working to free a people
was no game of broken dice
revolutionary ardour was not
a glamorous chessboard
strategy and tactics
lived together on hands
that washed dishes or
delivered poetry books with
Glee
Your no-nonsense attitude
instilled a commanding respect
in soldier, student and clergyman
Alike
Firm fingers cradled
deathly grenades
not in hatred
nor in bitterness
neither with a shred of malice
just a tool, a necessary tool
to unlock ancient
grids of empty hearts
unlock a nation’s wealth
to share
to fill naked bellies
create rainbows in a
land destined to be free
to untie ropes of
three hundred crying
Years
Cecyl, Son of our Soil
You accepted the fate of
a waiting Island like
others before you
Robben Island knew your
hopes, goals and desires
An Island surrounded by
cool blue waters of our
Southern Cross seas
washing the organs
of your revolutionary body
as you lay in a
gloomy prison cell
clarifying objectives
making plans
expanding the inner
dimensions of a mind
on an evolutionary
Quest
Your throaty laughter
stilled our fears
your calculated indignation and
quiet mirth hid the pain of
separation from family
your resilience and acceptance
of dull routine sharpening
your pin prick intellectual
Power
all these kept us
companeras on our
Toes !
Then the Island and its waters
birthed you into more finely
tuned Labours of Love
Again you claimed the baton
nothing more, nothing less
there was work to be done
songs to be sung
victories to be
Won
Your stories became fodder
of inspiration
your visits memories of
burnished gold
as you traveled across
small dorpies, on trains
busses, in taxis, searching
Observing
Held conference with rocks
and rivers intently watching for
a message
an elvish phantom, a lucid dream
a Spirit on a mission
capturing threads of
silver sayings from earthy
Oumas who offered you
koesisters and rooibos in tin
mugs which you savoured with
Glee
You listened with a bleeding Heart
calculating the depths of our pain
heights of our hopes
singing soft praises to our own
inner powers of Godliness
never missing a single note of
beauty as life unfolded
unfurled, undulating
Ever-changing
Consummate Revolutionary !
ancestors gazed in silent wonder
sat in unspeakable bliss for
visions you gifted us with
just by being
Present
And as your Star lights another
corner of our African sky
let it shine down with Madiba’s
with Mahlangu’s, with Johnny Issel’s
Ray Alexander’s, Virginia Engel’s
Chris Hani’s and Neil Aggett
with Annie Salinger, Helen Josephs’s
Let its lustrous beams
connect Samora & Cabral
link Guevara and Fidel
weave with our Patron Saint
Revolutionary par Excellence
Jose SanMartin
Let it twirl and dance with
every revolutionary tasked
with aiding the Spirit of Freedom
a Spirit soaring free from
hunger on our beloved Africa
as on our writhing Globe
now releasing damaging
Demons
In your Graduation from Earth
as you enter your resting rose
garden released from flesh
send your sparkle of
quiet Contemplation
send your steely nerves
your incisive knowingness
send Scales of Justice
to our ravished townships
our dark pandokkies
our ardent campus youth
as a coveted blanket
across our colourful
Land
Let your silver sword of Truth
illuminate those who tread
our corridors of power in
ignorance, confusion and
Greed
Let your heavenly light pierce
our Khoisan wanderings
our Zulu dancing
our soft Sotho songs
Let it imbue our very
essence with the
Wisdom that
Light follows Dark
Truth never dies
that Justice always walks
along our byways when
Faith becomes our major
tool and each day a new
page of focussed loving
Kindness
To serve, to serve, to serve
A people of the South
Cecyl, Son of our Soil
WE SALUTE YOU !
©GhairoDanielsPoetry&
Song2021
Copyright ©
Ghairo Daniels
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