Look, ok, I admit it, I am by no means a very good poet. Consider this a work in progress....
Who will be the next Mandela?
Who are the leaders who walk in the path that has been laid.
Who makes the sacrifices
Who unites and does not divide
Who’s soul endures the worst
So they can reveal to us their best
Who stands the test of time
From time and time again
Who does it for their soul
And never for the fame
Who will stand as one
Sworn to a higher cause
Who’s courage gives us hope
Who’s humanity gives us pause
There is great vacancy
That is waiting to be filled
Put your resume together
See if you can qualify
For a replacement that can never be filled
We can say with a certain certainty
He was one who lived so fully
Used every precious moment
To further the cause for humanity
How grateful we can all be
At the glory of his longevity
We know of all the heroes past
Who’s good deeds were too good to last
Who fell from an assassin’s bullet
Their crime was to tell us what they knew
Imagine if John Lennon had seen his 90th birthday
Or Malcolm had one day become the first President of Color
Had lived in the White House
Been the Guardian of Our Future
Or maybe it could have been a President King
Who finally got the chance to Live Out His Dream
Or maybe a Kennedy who retired from his second term
What could he have still done for his country
Travel back in time to the grand days of Abe
A man on a mission took our Abe away
For if he had lived, what things we could say
Instead wondering did he take better days to his grave
Mandela spent decades sitting in a cage
He emerged a greater man than he was going in
With great dignity and a benevolent humanity
He became the President of an evolved country
Look at what a man can do
When he is finally set free
I wonder maybe is there another who sits in a steel cage
Who one day may emerge and be President one day
Is there one for who’s crime there is no victim to be found
Who stood up when others chose to keep sitting down
How brave are those who’s guilt is to show
All it is that they think we should know
Who’s crime is to find a way
To shine a light on the truth
And make the world a better place.