O great Madiba, one of the great sojourners on the narrow lane called life,
O great Madiba who painted our world golden,
O great Madiba whose stories when told to generations unborn will seem as though they witnessed it,
O great Madiba whose blood flows in my vein,
O great Madiba the bridge between the whites and blacks,
O great Madiba the one who sings freedom song at the bank distance of rivers,
O great Madiba who lights our world with freedom,
O great Madiba the anti-apartheid hero of this generation,
Though i have never met you but your activism triggers my thinking,
O great Madiba whose name was written on the terror list of nonenties,
O great Madiba who stood for transparency and integrity,
O great Madiba, in you we find the true mirror of democracy,
For only you thought us to live by our words,
O great Madiba who single-handedly wrote his name on the sand of time,
He who wrote his name on the platter of Gold,
Mandela the great, i sing your elegy as we walk you down the narrow lane that demarcates the great divide,
For only you taught us how to sing protest song even in the four walls of the prison,
Only you taught jailers the lyrics of freedom songs at the Robben Island,
Forever your name will not fade for you have painted our world green.
There is only one Nelson, there is only one Tata, there is only one anti-apartheid hero, whose name remains evergreen in the story book of legends.
