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Odyssey From Africa 11c

Chapter 11c (The Island Kingdom, continued...)

Every member of the party
Had their fill of roasted sea-flesh
All the dogs and Rosy also 
Wolfed down all that they could swallow 
 
Then they rose up and departed
Heading north along the coastline 
Journeyed all day without stopping 
By late afternoon arriving 
 
At a sheltered sand embayment
Where they halted for the evening 
Quickly setting up a campsite 
Posted guards and lit a wood fire 
 
Several other warrior parties 
Now converged upon the beachfront  
From the north along the coastline 
Coming east from the interior 
 
Warriors of the Island Kingdom
All along the beach their campfires
Flickered in the deepening shadows
Voices murmured in the night air
 
Han and Kwona and their family
Shared a supper with their escorts
In a mood of quiet tension 
Sleeping little in the nighttime 
 
Matto's thoughts were with Ipiki
How his creature would endure the
Ocean crossing in a sail boat
So he made some preparations 

Up and down the sandy shore he 
Gathered victuals for Ipiki
Caterpillars, grubs and insects 
Held within a chamber fashioned

From a shell of coconut and
Kept alive with grass and seaweed
To ensure a fresh supply for
Many days upon the ocean 

In the light before the morning 
Han and Kwona stood together 
Looking to the sea horizon
For the moment of the sunrise 
 
Then upon the dawning skyline
Objects faintly could be sighted 
First the needle tips of ship-masts
Then the sails and hulls of vessels
 
Soon they saw a whole flotilla 
Tacking in toward the shoreline 
Han could see that these were masters
Of the craft of wind and sailing 
 
Han had once experimented
With a sail to speed his vessel
But for fishing work he favoured
Boats with paddle and outrigger
 
Which were nimble in manoeuvre 
With an unimpeded workspace. 
As the ships approached the shallows
All the warriors rose to meet them
 
Leading ships now rode the breakers 
Groups of men hauled each boat shoreward  
Just beyond the foaming wave front 
Then began the mass embarking 
 
To each ship a group of warriors 
Fast converged then climbed the gunwales 
Han and all his family running 
With their group of armed companions

To their designated vessel
Han now boarded with his family 
Rosy and Ipiki with them
Strong arms helped them climb the hull-sides
 
Matto tried to shield Ipiki
From the salty sprays of water
As a dozen barefoot sailors 
Launched them back into the breakers

Copyright © | Year Posted 2017




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