This rectangle
this rectangle is my tangible link to Madiba
from the desolation of a small cell with a bedroll (no mattress), a stainless steel bowl and a stool
the only creature comforts afforded during those 27 years.
From a dark cell to the quarries.
where you were to chip and chisel and cough and breathe in toxic dust stirred up by your chipping and chiseling.
That same toxic dust is your final foe.
Not apartheid, not prison, not hate, not greed, not age
That same toxic dust you stirred up while working hard labor under the watchful eyes of armed guards.
Breathing in, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, decade after...
That same toxic dust will not prevail.
Your steely resolve, your purpose, your strength, your wisdom, your freedom, our freedom will be always and for ever more...
It is the rock from the same limestone quarry where you labored
Mandela. 46664. Icon. Statesman. President of the New South Africa. Elder.
This rectangular rock resembles your resilience in a just and rightful cause.
Limestone. This piece of rock...
is my only tangible connection to Mandela
but oh, the intangibles.
(c) C. Denise Johnson 2013
Editor's note: The limestone came from Robben Island, the bracelet in Capetown, South Africa 2009
