This past Sunday,  Hugh Masekela was  honoured with a musical tribute at the University of Johannesburg (UJ)’s Soweto Campus. Various musicians performed at this final public tribute to the legendary artist, activist and composer.

I leave you here with an excerpt from a poem written by Nigerian author Niyi Osundare. For the full poem, go to SaharaReports or check out his book Pages from the Book of the Sun.

Waiting for Rain (for Hugh Masekela) by Niyi Osundare

Your trumpet pumps the wind
into a bold, metallic roar;
the universe throbs in awe
a worsted thunder whines
in a blue corner of the sky

   Waiting, waiting for the Rain

…

Memory hides in your song
in the sepia folds of a tune
which remembers its tongue
in the throat which bakes the bread
for our common feast

…

The Nile’s long-limbed gallop
the limpid lyric of the Limp, the Limp, the Limpopo
the Kukuruku’s tall whisper in the ears of the Kilimanjaro
the sun never sets in the empire of your song
your garland a forest of flowers and dappled murmurs

…

Niyi Osundare
(from Pages from the Book of the Sun: New & Selected Poems, 2002, pp. 42-43