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Odyssey From Africa 11g 12a

Chapter 11g 

Han and Kwona and their children 
Made their courteous introductions
Then were guided to their quarters
Where they soundly slept till sunrise 
 

Chapter 12a The Fireflower 
 
In the morning light they wakened
Now they saw with daytime clearness
The luxurious appointment 
Of the broad and spacious dwelling 
 
This was more sophisticated 
Than their modest fisher homesteads
Floors and walls of wood-carved panels
Works of art at every corner
 
Kwona had to warn the children 
To be careful with these treasures 
Now their hosts called them to breakfast 
Round a slab of polished timber
 
They were seated. Alongside them
Sat the master of the household 
Tor, a craftsman and shipbuilder
With his wife and seven children 
 
Now were brought exotic dishes 
Such that they had never tasted
Seafood mixed with fruits and salad
Unfamiliar seeds and pulses
 
But the favourite of the children 
Were the satay-sticks of goats meat
With a paste of sweet ground peanuts 
Artefacts of agriculture  
 
In the kingdom they had mastered
Growing crops for cultivation  
And had bred wild goats for farming 
From a stock that had been carried

From the mainland to the island 
Several centuries beforehand 
Han and Kwona and their children 
All their lives had never tasted 
 
Such delicious varied flavours
Soon the whole assembled party
Had their fill of hearty breakfast 
Turning then to conversation
 
Kwona spoke with animation 
With the mother of the household 
Of the splendid seafood dishes 
And the way of preparation 
 
Of the salad and it's making 
Of the goats and of their rearing
Han conversed with Tor the shipwright 
In a technical discussion 
 
Of the ships that they had sailed in
Their design and their construction 
How they shaped and cured the wood beams
How their many ropes were woven
 
But the children were the loudest
In their cries and exclamations 
As departing from the table
They engaged in sport and laughter
 
It was their adopted animals 
That attracted most attention 
Lisa let them play with Rosy
Matto showed his own pet batling 
 
How the children loved Ipiki!
Round the black-winged bat they crowded
Felt his soft fur and his wing-film
As the small ones heard him squeaking 
 
Moving outside onto grassland 
Now they spread to form a circle 
And Ipiki took to flying 
In between the happy youngsters 
 
Thus the children gained acquaintance 
Learned each other’s names and ages
From the youngest, just a toddler 
To the oldest now teenagers

Copyright © Phil Salmon | Year Posted 2017

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