Nelson Mandela
18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013

In a world beset by violence
in the name of religion, ideology and greed,
a world that sees only one side of a story,
raging wildly against the other,
self-serving and arrogant,
wishing death upon those
who are different or disagree,
you stood like a ray of hope
telling us that there is nothing unconquerable,
no river too deep, no ocean too wide,
redefining the limits of the human heart
and its infinite capacity for love
and forgiveness.

You made us look for better excuses
to allow ourselves the easy refuge of hate.

You walked the long, straight and narrow
in a world that was ignorant, repressive and cruel.
Made light of the injustice, made light of the pain,
and what’s more Madiba, you made it look cool.