Tata Madiba Rolihlahla The Shaker of Trees Trouble Maker Nelson Mandela The closing of the eyes The passing of the spirit One journey ends The eternal one begins You live in our heart and mind Forever The determination and fortitude The simplicity and truthfulness Is not for the faint of heart For those that are fake Cannot stand their ground The 26 years in prison The many inroads before that In the movement and liberation The court hearing and prompt up Charges of the past Bear witness to stellar determination To represent and serve the people This journey has just began For those that know better Leaders of today passed on from A leader — the home of humanity A F R I C A There is a light That still shines For those that bear Scares and trauma Of yesterday's woes A P A R T H E I D And survived There is freedom And there is license Abuse of freedom Is license Practiced in many nations Linked to discrimination Segregation of Blatant horrors of torture Seen in our jails And in our Reservations For all the vain talk The reality stares us in the face Here at home the Native American Whose home we have tarnished With greed, stealing, and rape Bite the hand that fed us And still we think We are right when we are damn W R O N G Africa has produced leaders Yes the home of all mankind Tata Madiba Embraced all As any stellar human Being would He tried to be a saint Admitting openly that he was A sinner Rolihlahla The shaker of trees Trouble maker For good Bringing solace to millions The world over The light here has gone To shine the world over Forever Francisco Da Costa December 11, 2013 San Francisco, California