An African night from which
At last,
A colossus exited,
Alas, mourning unrestrained,
Albeit by solemnity
Marked,
Evoked has,
Yet, a breath
Of fresh air,
In sweet fragrance
Enveloped,
The entire world
Sanitized
Arrested on spurious charges
By an Apartheid regime,
For breaching the peace,
Yet peaceful resistance
To a segregated,
Black populace,
Whose cause he championed,
Preached;
Unshaken by a death verdict
Which to twenty-seven
Years in jail,
Transmuted
For the records, even if over-flogged,
Those who in Africa
To political leadership aspire,
A crucial lesson
In transparency,
And, taking a bow
When the ovation is loudest,
From Madiba’s exemplary
Governance style,
Need to learn
Africans at home, many in political
Opportunism basking,
Those in Diaspora, no less,
Mandela, role model
Without comparison,
A global hero,
Whose humility, compassion,
One and all mesmerized,
By his passing at Ninety-five,
A legacy
Of political sagacity,
All through a life
Of selfless service
Garnered,
In bountiful measure,
Bequeathed
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