Until It Is Done by Mark Lipman

                for Nelson Mandela

For all those who say,

  it can never be done,

  who look upon those ivory towers

  with their militarized trenches

  disappearing chambers

  and puppet mechanisms

  imitating human beings

  in all aspects

  ‘cept for a conscience

  and a body to jail

  enslaving a world with divisions

  of hate and sectarianism,

I say, dream of a world

  which is at peace with itself.

For all those who have

  given up hope,

  who have fallen to despair,

  who see the skies falling in on them

  and the shoreline inching closer

  who have given into fear

  and the bitter tears of defeat,

I say, courage is not the absence of fear,

  but the triumph over it.

Stand tall and lead.

To be free is not merely

  to cast off one’s chains,

  but to break them all.

For all those who dream of freedom

  there is no easy path.

  hills follow hills

  and mountains

  before we reach our valley

  we must use our time wisely

  and see the horizon.

Settle not for a life

  … worth less than living.

Reach with your first and very last breath

  towards victory, to that mountaintop

  and we will all be there with you,

  on the frontline of life

  standing in the light

  of that glorious sun.

Lift up your hearts, the time is ripe

  it always seems impossible

  until it is done.

Mark Lipman, US National Beat Poet Laureate 2024-2025; founder of the press Vagabond, the Culver City Book Festival, and the Elba Poetry Festival; winner of the 2015 Joe Hill Labor Poetry Award; the 2016 International Latino Book Award and the 2023 L’Alloro di Dante (Dante’s Laurel – Ravenna, Italy), a writer, poet, multi-media artist, activist and author of fifteen books, began his career as the writer-in residence at the world famous Shakespeare and Company in Paris, France (2002-2003). Since then he has worked closely with such legendary poets as Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Jack Hirschman on many projects, and for the last twenty years has established a strong international following as a leading voice of his generation. He’s the host and foreign correspondent for the radio program, Poetry from Around the World, for Poets Café on KPFK 90.7FM Los Angeles. As Mark continues to travel the world, he uses poetry to connect communities to the greater social justice issues, while building consciousness through the spoken word.