Mandela
The Sun cannot set
for the centre was black
and will remain.
Reciprocally like words
on a blank page
or being esiqithini
in a wide ocean
and yet defyning it.
One no longer turns
a nelson’s eye to Makana
Ukuza kuka Mxele
Drowning is not defeat,
for victory is-
swimming against the tide.
27 years?
I was not put into a prison
But born into one:
“Do you understand that
you were nearly born in a prison?”
A leader is one whose ideas
arrive before he does,
as he pursues his
Long walk to freedom.
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Rukhaya MK, literary critic, poet and academician, has published her works in anthologies and journals. An award-winning writer, she has won accolades in writing at the national level and international level. She was chosen by Yahoo as one of the Top 1000 voices on an international level for the years 2011, 2012 and 2013 for her critical writings. Most of her articles have the top Google world rankings. A university rank-holder, Rukhaya is also editor of a national collection of poems called Inklinks, and on the editorial board of the journal Discourse . She currently works as Asst. Professor of English at Nehru College, Kasaragod, Kerala.
