Mzansi And The Ballot Box Poem by Chinedu Dike

Millions queued in lines before Arbiter Of Disputes.
Hopes were high,
Duty and resolve holding firm.
Hearts dance with spirit of Emancipation,
Each with ammo stronger than bullet,
Ready to dislodge a fiendish cabal out of Power.
All conscious of the long night of tribulation.
Singly, the weapons were discharged
Into The Receptacle Of Liberty;
Upon which they received baptisms of Freedom.
Inside the altar tugs of war ensued:
Invisible fibres bound and aligned aspirations.
Popular Will prevailed.
Bearing the scars of Apartheid,
Indigenous people celebrate the birth of Democracy.
Ballot Box had come at a great expense;
At all costs its sacredness shall be preserved.
Those were the surviving heroes and heroines of Mzansi.





NOTES:

Mzansi is the affectionate name for SOUTH AFRICA.
The story is about her first democratic elections of 1994.

The Arbiter Of Disputes, The Receptacle Of Liberty,
the altar, all refer to THE BALLOT BOX.

ammo, weapons, refers to ballot paper and ballot papers respectively.

fiendish cabal refers to The White Minority Rule:
The Apartheid Regime.