Odyssey From Africa 13c

Chapter 13c In the tracks of these cetaceans  For as long as he could follow  So he said to Tor the shipwright  "I will follow after Matto   “In the hope beyond all hoping  That my boy might yet be living  For my heart lies in the ocean  I cannot return without him"   Tor knew better than to argue So he did the best he could to Make the vessel right for sailing As he worked with Han in silence    Bailing water from the bilges Making good the sail and rudder Tor then sailed off with the children  Back to shore, while Han departed   In the opposite direction  Solitary in his sail boat  Searching all across the ocean  For the plumes of blowing humpbacks   Soon he saw the breaching whale pod Moving out to open ocean Eastward farther from the island  Han pursued the pod till nightfall    In the dark he saw the creatures  By the glowing phosphorescence  As colossal flukes and flippers Left a wake that glowed and twinkled    Underneath the ocean surface  And he sailed among the light-trails Scintillating blue and silver Marking out the great beast's outlines   As if sea had stolen starlight But his heart was dead to wonder Through the whole long night he traveled  Followed without thought of sleeping    Till he saw the glow of morning  Pale upon the eastern skyline  On he sailed among the humpbacks  Looking now to see their blowing    And he saw now all around him Rising plumes of white and rainbow  But the pod had grown much larger Blowing whales could now be sighted   All the way to the horizon  As the multitude of humpbacks  Many thousands in their number Filled up all the ocean surface    Han's despair now knew no limit As among the breaching humpbacks  To and fro in endless pattern He kept sailing, calling loudly   "Matto Matto - can you hear me!?" Till his voice was hoarse and painful  But he never once relented  Ever sailing, ever calling   This vast gathering of humpbacks  Was an ancient sight of wonder That our current generation  Will not have the chance to witness    Han went on beyond all hoping  Past his limit of endurance  Searching wide and far for his  Beloved son among the whale spouts    Till he fell in deep exhaustion  To a dreamless sleep of blackness To the boundary of existence  Motionless within his sail boat Through the twilight into nighttime  And through all the hours of darkness  Han's soul drifted near the border Of the living and the dying