ODE TO VUYISILE MINI.

By the grace of God

A poet, composer, singer.Fully-blended, a male chorister,Seasoned to the sound of musicFor the glee of Mother Nature.

A restless defiance campaignerMarried the African revolutionTo stand for the voiceless millionsAs organiser of the unorganisedFor sounds of silence be heard.

As bus and rent turmoil Championed industrial strugglesHim from infamous Treason TrialFor case to collapse into disgrace,As African image and dignity restored.

From Eastern Cape High Command,Through a solitary confinementFor ninety day lawsuit of sabotage,Him walked in golden noted strides,Down those gallows, singing, chanting.

In a pauper’s grave, him unmarkedAs regime satisfied rigid powersFor new democracy to exhumeA martyr’s cherished remainsFor a hero’s reburial, Vuyisile Mini.

Rest in honesty, compatriot,No hell could bar your spirit.Thru thick and thin ye triumphed,Thine blood watered freedom-treesFor present generation to rejoice.

By Aubrey ka Saki.