Odyssey From Africa 10b 11a
After two more hours of watching
When the night was at its deepest
Han roused Kwona for her vigil
Till the first light of the morning
But a mood of laughter took them
By some magic of the nighttime
And they crept toward the shoreline
To continue with their love-play
By the sunrise all were sleeping
All the family round the fireside
Han was waked by strange sensation
By a tongue that licked his forehead
In an instant an electric
Bolt of fear and panic roused him
Did some animal attack him?
He could smell a beast's aroma
Leaping to his feet for action
Han looked rapidly around him
Saw the hunting dog that waked him
Which however was not hostile
Merely trotting from the fireside
To a circle of companions
Several dozen human warriors
Standing all around their campsite.
Chapter 11 Ufalme Kisiwa (The Island Kingdom)
By armed men they were surrounded!
This was clearly not a moment
To be fighting; Han was curious
That the hunting dogs and humans
Seemed on friendly terms together
Had they tamed these wild creatures?
All the family now awaking
Soon perceived the situation
Warriors bearing fearsome weapons
Spears and swords with bronze blades gleaming
Stood impassive in a circle
All around the family's campsite
Han had never seen such warriors
Seen such gleaming fire-forged metal
Such adroitly woven garments
Or seen dogs domesticated
Now arose an altercation
Rosy the baboon confronted
By a hunting dog; both creatures
Gave display of their aggression
But a timely intervention
By a handler and by Lisa
Stopped it going any further
Then the leader of the party
With a powerful warrior escort
On each side now stepping forward
Signaled Han to come and parley
To talk over their intentions
Kwona stood between the children
Held their hands for reassurance
Rosy and Ipiki with them
As their future was decided
Han could see that this war party
Came not from their southern homeland
But they knew each other’s language
So could speak together freely
Though the warriors' spoken accent
Curiously inflected upwards
At the end of every sentence
So it sounded like a question?
All the warriors were the subjects
Of a far-off island kingdom
That to reach took many days of
Sailing over deep blue ocean
On this vast and rugged island
Lived a growing vibrant nation
All descended from a party
Of explorers several centuries
Beforehand who on wild and
Wind-lashed ocean had been carried
Further out to sea than any
Man or woman had before them
Copyright © Phil Salmon | Year Posted 2017
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