![\"\"](\"https:\/\/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com\/images\/I\/51WFAA98J%2BL._SL160_.jpg\")
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When Thunder Comes: Poems for Civil Rights Leaders<\/a> Booktalk:<\/strong> Children’s Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis gave new voices to seventeen heroes of civil rights: King, Harvey Milk, Mohandas Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Sylvia Mendez, Aung San Suu Kyi, Mamie Carthan Till, Helen Zia, Josh Gibson, Dennis James Banks, Mitsuye Endo, Ellison Onizuka, Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Yunus, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner in this 2013 volume. After the book came out, Nelson Mandela died<\/a>, so Lewis updated the poem. He asked me to share it with you today on Nelson Mandela International Day<\/a>.<\/p>\n Nelson Mandela International Day<\/strong><\/p>\n July 18<\/strong><\/p>\n It was as if he\u2019d landed on the moon J. Patrick Lewis<\/strong><\/p>\n This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted by The Opposite of Indifference<\/a>.<\/p>\n Copyright \u00a9 2014 Anastasia Suen<\/a> All Rights Reserved. When Thunder Comes: Poems for Civil Rights Leaders by J. Patrick Lewis (Author), Jim Burke (Illustrator), R. Gregory Christie (Illustrator), Tonya Engel (Illustrator), John Parra (Illustrator), and Meilo So (Illustrator) Booktalk: Children’s Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis gave new voices to seventeen heroes of civil rights: King, Harvey Milk, Mohandas Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Sylvia Mendez, … Continue reading Nelson Mandela International Day poem by J. Patrick Lewis<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry-friday"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/asuen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/asuen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/asuen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asuen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asuen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/asuen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6231\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/asuen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asuen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asuen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nby J. Patrick Lewis (Author), Jim Burke (Illustrator), R. Gregory Christie (Illustrator), Tonya Engel (Illustrator), John Parra (Illustrator), and Meilo So (Illustrator)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.un.org\/en\/events\/mandeladay\/images\/mandelalogo.jpg\")
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\nFive years before the actual event.
\nAt Robben Island prison, his descent
\nInto a nightmare world, an outcast dune,
\nBegan at forty-six, his fate derailed.
\nThere were no clocks, his life defined by bell
\nAnd whistle, sisal mats (no beds), his cell
\nSeven feet square. But destiny prevailed,
\nSo that for twenty-seven squalid years,
\nHe kept his keepers, not the other way around:
\nThe wages of nobility unbound.
\nRespect had overcome a freight of fears.
\nMadiba<\/em>, as Mandela\u2019s widely known\u2014
\nThe gentleman who calmed the combat zone.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.asuen.com\/images\/poetry%20friday.jpg\")
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