A Secret Place
Freedom within Sight
Madiba.
Many good men and women have taught me that
Fighting for what is right is almost as important
As knowing what is right….
You are part of a smaller and
Very special group
Who even taught me
The best way to fight.
You once said, “In order to succeed, all is to sacrifice.”
Thereby teaching me that in order to fight for what is right,
I must accept that I will fall and struggle to rise again, and
That I must rise and fight again.
You taught me that my most hostile adversaries
Can even be
Those who I might expect to be my closest allies, and
Will salute and praise me while despising me.
You never once let me forget that
Standing up for what is right
Will ensure that I will be unpopular for most,
If not all, of my limited life.
You have not been an angel in this world.
Just a man; fallible like the rest of us, but because you have stood so tall while
Many still could not see you for your shadow,
I know where your soul will rest.
I will remember and honour you
For the rest of my days.
My teacher,
Madiba.
Hammer Home 
I don’t remember seeing poems on your blogs before. I am impressed 🙂
There are some in both this project and the main MOF blog. For Hammer Home, click the “Poems” tag and you find wich posts already contain them.
For this project, I’ve already interviewed a local dub poet. I’m working drafting the transcript. It may wind up being posted in 3 parts.
Thanks for the info Allan 🙂 I will catch up….
A most moving and heartfelt tribute Allan, words and picture.
I shot this a few years ago. It’s meant to be a positive image, conveying a sense that achieving freedom from some genuinely unjust constraint is not just something to hope for someday but is actually visible on the horizon. The notion became reinforced for me when Nelson Mandela died.
an honorable poem for a great leader. your photograph and words, a wonderful tribute. thank you.
Greatly appreciated.
Fighting for what is right is good, for the most part. If that fight impacts one’s life, business, family, in a negative way, it’s probably not the right fight.
Provided there’s enough wisdom to know the difference.
Unfortunately, oftentimes there isn’t. Sometimes fighting for what is right can be an addiction as bad as alcoholism, smoking, etc.
I can see how that little window reminded you of Madiba’s prison cell. I also wrote a tribute to him, he is one of my all-time heroes:http://beautyalongtheroad.wordpress.com/2013/12/05/nelson-mandela-light-of-inspiration/
I enjoyed your post. The seeking of truth and righteousness can make others most uncomfortable but we lose the slightest grasp of that truth and freedom when we don’t reach for it honestly. We certainly do betray ourselves, and that is certainly worse than the discomfort others feel as a result of our striving to achieve what is just.
And it is so easy to focus on distractions instead as we are constantly bombarded with outside input in every imaginable way. How can we even act upon our truth when we haven’t taken the quiet, solitary time to figure out what that is?