Nineteen-eighteen to twenty-thirteen,
ninety-five years in all,
twenty-seven years of a long walk to freedom.
Eight-hundred-and-fifty people called
to complain and record their upset
that a television show had been
interrupted to announce Mandela's death
during a hilarious scene.
Disgraceful to diminish such news
and yet a smiling Nelson
would have considered their views,
and possibly chuckled at them
asserting their rights,
no more than he might have thought
Obama and Cameron were doing no harm
taking selfies as they talked
at the memorial service for a man
who was prepared to die.
(Nelson Mandela died on 5th December 2013. The BBC interrupted a repeat episode of the comedy, Mrs. Brown's Boys, to announce his passing and received 850 complaints about the interruption.
independent.ie article & Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika)
