I'd like to share a poem by my good friend Rabison Shumba, writer, coach, consultant, and one of Zimbabwe's top motivational speakers. Turns out, he's quite a poet as well; of course, since the poem's about me, I'm probably not a completely objective judge. I leave it to my readers to decide if he's Zimbabwe's Walt Whitman or not.
He came, he
conquered, he left a mark!!!
Dedication to
Amby Charles Ray for his great service while representing the USA in Zimbabwe
during the period - 2009 - 2012
Your arrival was not a fanfare
It was subtle with no horns and whistles
blowing
Your arrival was subtle and yet historic
With clarity of thought and peace of mind you
came
You knew what you had come for and were out to
do it
You settled among us, became like one of us
You worked in a stupendous manner; results are
there for all to see
You took no sides; you were clear on your
mandate
You slept late and woke up early just to make
things right
Amazing is the man who now bids farewell
You wrote daily, from fiction stories to real
life events
You published books that will outlive you sir
You blogged, posted and connected with all who
desired
In the process you gathered many friends
Like any good person, enemies could not be left
out
You spoke to all ages particularly the next
generation
The young wanted to be your friends, the old
desired your companionship
You sat with them as if you came from the same
womb with them
Yet in all this you were misunderstood and
misquoted
But resolute you remained, to the cause you
came for
How amazing is this man who is leaving us.
You are about to retire from this post but we
all know one thing
Your wisdom and counsel is needed the world
over
You shall travel the nations; you shall speak
until old age
Your wisdom is critical in this suffering and
wounded world
Make this world a better place like you did for
this nation.
An incredible leader you are, pampered through
experience
An incredible teacher you are, ever available
to mentor and coach
An incredible statesman you are, excellent in
your work
An incredible father you are, to many including
those not biologically yours
You are amazing; words cannot fully paint this
picture
We remain with great memories, vivid and bright
Indelible marks you left in us resonate into
the future
What an ambassador who stands when it made
sense to quit
You are one of a kind, an example worth
following
An amazing man whose story is full of templates
to copy and paste
We can only believe that you also go away happy
Happy that you met a people with warm hearts
and open minds
Happy that in the midst of adversity you
conquered and won
Happy that in the sea of ridicule you soldiered
on to the end
Happy that you put smiles of many communities
Whether we like to admit in public or not you
did well
Many commend you in private while denigrating
you in public
All because keeping up appearances sounds like
the noble thing to do
Your results speak for themselves, I should
stop talking now
Farewell
Ambassador Charles Ray, you shall forever be missed and cherished
By Rabison Shumba – July 2012
Rabison always addressed me as 'Amby,' which is a pretty nice handle actually.
Rabson captured the sentiment shared by most Zimbabweans over, well done Ambassador!! In that polarising country you have truly achieved and incredible, as you have seen yourself how "enemies of the state" have been treated including moderator Jacob Zuma. Once again Amby, good job!!
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