Open Poetry #47 |
Mama Nontsikelelo Albertina Sisulo |
OwlSA Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347Durban, South Africa |
MAMA NONTSIKELELO ALBERTINA SISULU 11 June 2011 Mama, most of all, to your own family and to the nation before your lifetime history which embraced taking over the household at the age of fifteen when your father died, later becoming nursing midwife and sister-in-charge and standing up for the rights of all, with fierce love and determination, courage and fortitude, quiet dignity and compassion, discipline and wisdom, a stalwart political leader in your own right, a leader of standing, a shining example of honour and great achievement yet you transcended political divisions in the interests of preserving the community. You were what all politicians should be. You were welcomed at the White House and 10 Downing Street and yet humility was your name and the door of your humble home with its welcome mat was always open to every needy neighbour and the homeless. Thank you for cooking extra sausages for Snuffles, the Maltese poodle of one of your grandchildren when they came to visit. You made a difference throughout your ninety-two years. You were a warrior for righteousness and a care-giver. You mobilised, nurtured, encouraged, comforted, gave constructive criticism and tough love, cared, fed, mentored endured. You were truly your brother’s keeper with your simple acts of service. You taught that power comes from selfless service – power to serve more. You stood your ground no matter how thick and high the wall in front of you. You were resilient when all seemed lost. You assessed what needed to be done and you went ahead and did it, leading, planning and arranging from the ground up even to arranging ties for men to attend court cases of those victimised during the horrors of Apartheid. You were pure of heart and actions and were persecuted for righteousness’ sake yet you never lost your spirit, nor your faith, nor your smile that was born within your heart and overflowed to the glow in your eyes, nor did you ever lose your hope in the fiercest opposition and this carried you through making your massive contributions to society. May we all water your garden of goodness as you watered your garden of flowers and people. Your greatest wish was freedom, equality and dignity for all and unity amongst all people of South Africa. May we not just tell others how you served and led. May we show them in our thoughts and words and most of all, actions, how to show others in turn and may we all keep your blueprint warm and alive. The nation stands together in mourning you, no matter political allegiance, colour or creed. Please, Mama, accept the tears of one whom you didn’t know, nor who knew you, and who regretfully has few tears for her own mother. We bid farewell to you, we revere you, our Mama, a national heroine. We thank you, Mama, for your life of service and we thank you, God, for Mama. Your beautiful funeral was gracious and touching and befitting of a soul so overflowing with goodness and love. Well done, true and faithful servant of God. May you rest in peace with your and our beloved Walter Sisulu and may you both continue one of the world’s greatest love stories in Heaven with the God so beloved to you and Walter and whom you both served and loved so dearly. May you both be rejoicing in the rewards of Heaven. Hamba gahle, lala gahle, dear Mama. (21 October 1918 – 2 June 2011) Owl |
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© Copyright 2011 Diana van den Berg - All Rights Reserved | |||
secondhanddreampoet Member Ascendant
since 2006-11-07
Posts 6394a 'Universalist' ! |
absolutely superb tribute write !! |
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OwlSA Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347Durban, South Africa |
Thank you, Bruce. I appreciate your kind words. Owl |
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JamesMichael Member Empyrean
since 1999-11-16
Posts 33336Kapolei, Hawaii, USA |
You did a fantastic job with this...James |
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Margherita Member Seraphic
since 2003-02-08
Posts 22236Eternity |
Very moving, exquisite tribute to a wonderful soul who really made a differnece in this world of ours. Among all the words of praise for this outstanding woman, there are those few lines that you inserted regarding your own Mother that tug at my heartstrings most intensely. Love, Margherita |
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OwlSA Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347Durban, South Africa |
Thank you, very much James. I really appreciate your response. Thank you, Margherita. I warm to your kindness and compassion so very much. The older I get, the more I realise what I have missed without a caring mother or father or without a sister and/or brother (caring or not) and I envy the relationship that you, in particular, have with your mother, and that others, too, have with their mother – I am not jealous of you, just envious – but what I do when you or anyone else (such as Marcia/Word Weaver amongst others) talks about your/their relationship with your/their mother (or father) is to creep in and share it (I know that none of you will mind, LOL!) – which is why I grab (but gently, because I am very, very much tougher and more resilient than I sound, and have managed very well on my own for most of my life) at the opportunity of taking on somebody as an imaginary and momentary mother or father. I was extremely fortunate to have the most wonderful (late ex-step-) mother in the world, although I was only married for 7 years and she lived far away. I was dry-eyed throughout my mother’s funeral and the night after her funeral I cried the whole night because I couldn’t cry for her, if that makes any sense (or even if it doesn’t – LOL!). My (now late ex-) husband was quite understanding and comforting that night too, which was nice. Perhaps all of the above is a small part of the reason why I cried for all the hours of Albertina Sisulu’s funeral. I was surprised that Albertina’s funeral was so touching and contained many, many personal and family elements, despite the (gracious, appropriate and deserved) pomp and ceremony. Her political party was out in full force and so often that particular political party gets totally out of hand – and they did a bit at the funeral at one part, but they were brought back under control again (albeit after some time) which is not the usual pattern – such is the love and respect that Albertina Sisulu engendered in everyone. She had 7 children, 25 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren and the family element was a very great part of the ceremony. Owl |
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OwlSA Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347Durban, South Africa |
Oops, oops, oops, VERY OOPS! "wonderful (late ex-step-) mother" should read: "wonderful (late ex-step-) mother-IN-LAW" SORRY, Mammie (pronounced "Mummie") there in Heaven! My stepmother was another story as described in a poem called Meringue which I am almost sure is somewhere in the archives. Owl |
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