Free His Day Is Done by Maya Angelou

His day is done,
    Is done.
    The news came on the wings of a wind
    Reluctant to carry its burden.
    Nelson Mandela’s day is done.
    The news, expected and still unwelcome,
    Reached us in the United States and suddenly
    Our world became somber.
    Our skies were leadened.
    His day is done.

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    We see you, South African people,
    Standing speechless at the slamming
    Of that final door
    Through which no traveler returns.
    Our spirits reach out to you:
    Bantu, Zulu, Xhosa, Boer.
    We think of you
    And your Son of Africa,
    Your Father,
    Your One More Wonder of the World.

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    We send our souls to you
    As you reflect upon
    Your David armed with
    A mere stone facing down
    The Mighty Goliath.
    Your man of strength, Gideon,
    Emerging triumphant
    Although born into the brutal embrace of Apartheid,
    Scarred by the savage atmosphere of racism,
    Unjustly imprisoned
    In the bloody maws of South African dungeons.

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    Would the man survive?
    Could the man survive?
    His answer strengthened men and women
    Around the world.
    In the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas,
    On the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco,
    In Chicago’s Loop,
    In New Orleans’ Mardi Gras,
    In New York City’s Times Square,
    We watched as the hope of Africa sprang
    Through the prison’s doors.

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    His stupendous heart intact,
    His gargantuan will
    Hale and hearty.
    He had not been crippled by brutes
    Nor was his passion for the rights
    Of human beings
    Diminished by twenty-seven years of imprisonment.

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    Even here in America
    We felt the cool
    Refreshing breeze of freedom
    When Nelson Mandela took
    The seat of the presidency
    In his country
    Where formerly he was not even allowed to vote.
    We were enlarged by tears of pride
    As we saw Nelson Mandela’s
    Former prison guards
    Invited, courteously, by him to watch
    From the front rows
    His inauguration.

    (photo credit 1.8)
    We saw him accept
    The world’s award in Norway
    With the grace and gratitude
    Of Solon in Ancient Grecian courts
    And the confidence of African Chiefs
    From ancient royal stools.

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    No sun outlasts its sunset
    But will rise again
    And bring the dawn.
    Yes, Mandela’s day is done,

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    Yet we, his inheritors,
    Will open the gates wider
    For reconciliation.
    And we will respond
    Generously to the cries
    Of the Blacks and Whites,
    Asians, Hispanics,
    The poor who live piteously
    On the floor of our planet.

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    He has offered us understanding.
    We will not withhold forgiveness
    Even from those who do not ask.
    Nelson Mandela’s day is done.
    We confess it in tearful voices
    Yet we lift our own to say:
    Thank You.

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    Thank You, Our Gideon.
    Thank You, Our David.
    Our great courageous man.
    We will not forget you.
    We will not dishonor you.
    We will remember and be glad
    That you lived among us

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    That you taught us
    And
    That you loved us
    All!

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To all the world’s citizens
,
    who lost a friend
    when President Nelson Mandela died

BY MAYA ANGELOU
    AUTOBIOGRAPHIES
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Gather Together in My Name

Singin’ and Swingin’ and Gettin’ Merry Like Christmas

The Heart of a Woman

All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes

A Song Flung Up to Heaven

Mom & Me & Mom
    ESSAYS
Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now

Even the Stars Look Lonesome

Letter to My Daughter
    POETRY
Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ’fore I Diiie

Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well

And Still I Rise

Shaker, Why Don’t You Sing?

I Shall Not Be Moved

On the Pulse of Morning

Phenomenal Woman

The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou

A Brave and Startling Truth

Amazing Peace

Mother

Celebrations

His Day Is Done
    CHILDREN ’ S BOOKS
Poetry for Young People

My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken, and Me

Kofi and His