When Nelson Mandela passed, many around the world felt compelled to express themselves. Tanenbaum’s CEO, Joyce Dubensky, shared this on The Huffington Post. Afterward, Vasu Gounden, founder of the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes, shared this poem with us.
IN THE SHADOW OF HIS LIGHT
In the black hole
of death and hopelessness
I lived my enslavement
a lifeless existence
a slow painful death
in the shadow of darkness
beaten into submission
robbed of my dignity
used and abused
they reached for my soul
a slow…painful death
in the shadow of apartheid’s darkness
In my weak body
my hidden heart cried
my dry eyes resisted
the death of my soul
I slowly grew stronger
in the shadow of his light
behind icy waters and high walls
in the bosom of their darkness
in the depth of our despair
his light shone day and night
like a beacon of hope
in the middle of the ocean
my soul grew stronger
in the shadow of Madiba’s light
VASU GOUNDEN
06 DECEMBER 2013
Written on the plane on my return home from Brazil in deep contemplation of the light that Madiba’s life was in the darkest moments of our struggle against the darkness of apartheid!