Robben Island Poem by Dr. Ahmed Gumaa Siddiek

Robben Island *
I
Madiba marched, into Robben Island *
In the Indian Ocean
A solitary place
Where only the angry motion
Of waves slapping the hard rocks
With pitiless emotions
II
Mandela marched
into Robben Island
Tall and slim
like a tropical palm tree
To put his name
in the book of history
And set all Africans free
III
He walked into the Island
A Chief of an African Tribe
Steadily treading the soil with full pride
With a lion stride
Then the gates were all opened wide
IV
Mandela was confined
In his solitary cell
Did he cry or yell?
No, he was as happy as a child
With a new doll in his jail
V
And because he was brave and wise
He wrote the story that could never be retold twice
As he changed his Prison into Paradise


*The local tribal name for Mandela
** An Island in the Indian Ocean, about 7 km from Cape Town, where Nelson
Mandela was political prisoner for 18 years.