http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/5187272.stm
Last Updated: Tuesday, 18 July 2006, 06:36 GMT 07:36 UK
Poets hail Nelson Mandela's life
By Shen Liknaitzky
BBC
A book of poetry celebrating the life of Nelson Mandela has been launched
to mark the South African statesman's 88th birthday on Tuesday.
The book, titled Halala Madiba (Hail Mandela), is more than an anthology
about one man.
Nelson Mandela remains a hugely popular figure
Enlarge Image
It is also the story - through poems from around the world - of South
Africa's freedom struggle.
The poets include former statesmen, reggae and rap artists, performance
poets, and even a 12-year-old child.
It follows the trajectory of Mandela from freedom fighter to "grand old
man".
It was the long years of incarceration on Robben Island, beginning in
1963, which inspired the first poems.
One of the earliest is "And I Watch it in Mandela" by South African John
Matshikiza, written in 1974.
It is not for the safety of silence
That this man has opened his arms to lead.
The strength of his words hangs in the air
As the strength in his eyes remains on the sky;
And the years of impatient waiting draw on
While this man burns to clear the smoke in the air.
There is fire here,
Which no prison
Can kill in this man;
And I watch it in Mandela.
This poem was written during the darkest days, but it is full of fire -
and a sense of what was to come was borne out when Mandela was, eventually
released.
Like everyone else, John Matshikiza remembers that day: "I was in London,
I was with my mother and my daughter and my partner and we were all just bowled
over by what was happening.
"We'd been waiting all of our lives for this. That is all I can say. It
was the whole of my life."
Freedom
That same day in February 1990 was evoked by poet Chris Mann in his poem
"Tamed", published in 1992:
You come out onto the dais,
distant as a god, a totem, raise
your arms and we roar
with an adoration like a rage.
As well as spanning more than 30 years, the poems come from everywhere in
the world - most of course from South Africa, as well as many from elsewhere on
the continent.
Armindo Vaz d'Almeida, a former prime minister of Sao Tome and Principe,
wrote "Poem to the Southern Wind" in 1987. This is an extract of a translation
from the original Portuguese:
And the steps of men keep going
patiently counting the stones of the road
long road on which you
encapsulating the spirit of insurgency
like a light of inspiring brilliance
you rise against the pale destiny
imposed on your mutilated flag.
Critical
But perhaps surprisingly, the collection also includes poems that are
critical of a man seen by many as a hero.
"There is also one really interesting poem which is written by an
apartheid - one could call him - apparatchik, someone who worked within the
apartheid state," says Richard Bartlett, the editor of the collection.
"He wrote a poem saying that Mandela got what he deserved and that if he
hadn't been thrown in prison South Africa wouldn't be as free a country as it
is now and this was written in the mid 1970s, so that is one of the poems that
is not just praising Mandela."
Gerrit Fourie's poem "Rivonia", written in Afrikaans in 1976, translates
as follows:
Let them be remembered, and what they wanted to do:
let the fear and the blood and violence, death
hatred, vengeance, vandalism and looting, anguish,
pain, agony, noise and racket and rape,
let this, the rejection of order, discipline,
civilisation, love of humanity, let this, I say, never
in all eternity as long as there are those who can think, ever
be forgotten or denied.
But the majority of the poems are conducting an intimate conversation
with Mandela himself - from the endless years when he was in prison to the
moment of release and beyond.
Published in 2004, Jekwu Ikeme's "When Mandela Goes" imagines life after
a man who has dominated South African history for more than half a century.
When you go chosen soldier in the crusade of dreams
our tears shall not cloud your journey home.
When you go Madiba your nobility shall be our lasting inheritance
this land you so love shall continue to love
we shall trail the long and majestic walk
your gallant walk shall be our cross and shepherd.
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Feel inspired to put pen to paper? Send us your poems about Nelson
Mandela using the form at the end of the page - a small selection will appear
below.
Bravo Mandela, peoples' inspiration
Brave Mandela, receive congratulation
Happy birthday, courageous grandfather
Hero everyday, blessings father
Josephat Kioko, Mombasa, Kenya
When he could barely walk he stood strong and stood Tall
When they beat him back down to a fall,
he once again arose with a call... a call of freedom
The man that shouted when he could barely talk,
the man that stood when he was already struggling to walk
The man that stood up and said No
No to the disgrace that stood before him,
the man that took your bruises so you didn't have to
The man that continues to Shout when he can barely talk
Matthew Reynolds, Birmingham
A dove of peace,
set in a cage,
once released,
gave birth to an age,
when he goes remember: he suffered, and forgave.
David Litvak, Quebec City
Years ago,
a star from the sky
made his journey to the earth,
protesting the limit of sky,
and searching for freedom,
the star was captured,
some people dared to
create darkness putting their guns
in front of the star,
but the star never stopped shinning,
it lighted the thousands of candles
in the land of darkness,
one day, the star found the freedom
on the land of man,
and still burning to spread the ray of freedom
the the forbidden continent
and spreading the rays of inspiration
to the whole world.
Kamal Kumar, Kathmandu, Nepal
Name
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