To FG, a memorial, with love.
Late into these nights
A radio keeps my work unheeded company –
Till out of the wind-urged static,
Through the winter blankets of northern clouds
And the insubstantial wraps of my tropical sky,
A crisp and familiar voice
Arrests my hand. I smile.
The voice of my continent.
Gratefully often now,
As the harbour of freedom is being negotiated.
*
Like the deep beneath the waves that catch the sunshine,
Many years lie under these sparkling moments;
The undertow pulls at the mind.
We are leaving behind one Island,
But ahead there are other islands of beliefs
For people to depart from yet, to arrive at a mainland.
For all that, this now is a different cape we turn,
Echoing from a stranger of long ago,
A premonition of good hope.
*
And so we celebrate this time with you,
Celebrate the strength of your voice in your struggle:
We celebrate its truth,
We celebrate your presence,
Scarred by the passage through dangers,
The more dear to us for that.
