FATHER, IS IT TIME?
Lend me a seat
Woven with time and its processes
As I weave these words
Spoken with deep reverence
Madiba
My father who bid time stay
As he went forth and back
To fetch me waters of freedom
Pa
You who gave me drink of
The well dug with blood
And satiated my thirst
Father
I hungered in the cell of oppression
You ran miles to fetch me
Freedom
Blood!
Sweat!
Broken flesh
Shattered bone
Father
Will you not stay longer that I may bind your wounds?
Father
Will you not tarry here with me that I may heal the years?
Soothe the pain
Give more joy
Breathe you peace
Wash away the weight of the years
Madiba, my father
Leave me not
Tarry a while longer
For it is my turn to go fetch where you once went
I want you to see me draw whence you once drew
Surely you must thirst for a sip of my draw?
I want you to see me fill the aged shoes and break another out like you did me
Surely, you must walk with me?
Oh father! Hear me if you can
For I cry with a broken heart
And grope in the dark for thy hand
That which held me when times were hard
Father, can you hear me?
I urge you to speak if you can
For this weight which has suddenly been thrust upon me is heavy
I need you Pa.
Groaning
Weeping blood
Father must have gone
Like he said he would someday
But is it time
To find my own path
And take charge
Like he said I should?
‘Father, I will marry you so that when you go, I can carry on’
‘No daughter, you must find your own path.’
‘But father, no man can do what you have done, let me just continue it’
‘There will never be another me but you can make a greater difference as you find you’
Oh father
Is it time?
To find my own path
And do greater things than you did
If it be so walk with me
For the years ahead may not be kind
And I’ll need your guide
Every step of the way.
First published on Facebook on 2013-12-06 at this link.