Odyssey From Africa 11e
Odyssey from Africa, Chapter 11e, The Island Kingdom (continued)
Matto, Lisa and their parents
Contemplated now a journey
On the ocean that was longer
Far than any in their memory
One whole week upon the ocean
Lay before them in the sail-boat
As a crewman bid them gather
Distributing food and water
At the stern a sort of shelter
Had been formed by stretching fabric
From the transom to the gunwales
And this shelter gave them refuge
From the rain and storm-blown sea spray
From the arduous heat of noontime
Here they slept in hours of darkness
Guarded from the wind and weather
Later as the sun was sinking
Han observed as from the crewmen
One stepped forward holding high an
Artefact of detailed craftwork
Wooden struts of perfect straightness
Held at angles by a bracket
Fashioned out of fire-wrought metal
Mounting polished metal mirrors
Now the sailors used this sextant
To establish their position
Based upon the elevation
Of the sun from the horizon
(Later Han would learn to use the
Sextant for his navigation
Sailing round the other-worldly
Coastline of the Island Kingdom)
Four straight days and nights of sailing
Brought them to a waypoint island
That today we call Comoros
Halfway to the Island Kingdom
Here the whole flotilla rested
Here refilled their flasks of water
And among the crowds of sea-birds
Spent a night on terra firma
On this island in the mountains
Lived Ipiki’s distant cousin
Livingstone’s enormous fruit bat
Soaring with a four-foot wingspan
After Comoros the wind turned
Favourably in strength and bearing
So with three more days of sailing
They beheld the Island Kingdom
Saw the land of Madagascar
Fill the starboard's whole horizon
Saw the earth's fourth largest island
Africa's tectonic sibling
Now the ships prepared to clear the
Northern tip of Madagascar
Wheeling south round what today is
Cape Andronovondronina
(That great island's wondrous place names
Long and beautiful to utter
Are a little hard to fit
Into inverse iambic rhythm!)
As they entered coastal waters
Matto and his sister Lisa
Stared intently in the water
Watching the abundant sea-life
Shoals of iridescent fishes
Captivated their attention
Now and then a pod of sand sharks
Sped like golden ghosts beneath them
In the flickering blue-green half-light
Sharks of many kinds were sighted
With the ever-present sea snakes
As they neared the kingdom's shoreline
Copyright © Phil Salmon | Year Posted 2017
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