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Phil Salmon Poem
Odyssey from Africa, Chapter 12 (d) The fireflower (cont.)
Dominated by one hilltop
Round in form, it’s summit hidden
In the whiteness of a cloud base
There they saw their destination
Now they climbed by steepening gradient
Through a changing vegetation
To a lighter forest ambience
As the trees became less crowded
Soil and rock turned red in colour
At ground level here and there they
Saw the swollen stems and leaves and
Orange flowers of Aloe vera
Saw the twinkling purple calyx
Of the upland Kalanchoe
Stopping now to rest and eat, they
Sat together in a circle
As their guide explained, these highlands
Were a place to seek the fireflower
Find the lichen-mottled tree trunks
With their sprays of slender branches
Bearing high the vivid flame-like
Blossoms of Delonix regia
So they formed a line of searching
And continued slowly onward
Glimpsing once a red-mouthed fossa
Crouching in a tree’s high branches
With its kill, a ring tailed lemur
As they passed it eyed them coldly
Then a fireflower tree was sighted
Young and slender, rich with flowers
Which but recently had opened
In the thinnest topmost branches
But these branches were too fragile
To support a human climber
Therefore Lisa summoned Rosy
And began communicating
To the monkey what was needed
That she climb and pick the fireflower
Rosy now became excited
To be gaining such attention
So she quickly scaled the branches
And began to chew the fire flowers!
Lisa signaled to the primate
This was not what she had asked for!
Rosy finally got the message
Tore off three or four fine branch tips
Richly covered with the fire flowers
Which she brandished as a trophy
And she now grew animated
Started screeching with excitement
Leaped and swung between the branches
Vanishing into the foliage
Of the near surrounding forest
Holding fast her crimson fireflowers
Matto and their young companions
Started calling to the monkey
To return to them the flower twigs
The baboon, though, made no answer
Lisa was by this untroubled
She paid Rosy no attention
Calmly turned about in silence
Started walking down the hillside
Beckoning to her companions
To commence their homeward journey
As they all retraced their footsteps
As they climbed the steepest incline
Downhill through the highland forest
Rosy now appeared among them
In her hand the brightly coloured
Bundle of the fireflower branches
Now had grown to twice the number
Covered with the healing petals
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King Ptolemy the Second (cont.)
Sleek of line for speedy sailing
It was rugged in construction
Several layers of well cured timber
Lined the hull and bridge and gunwales
There were four great masts with mainsails
Han surveyed its scale and features
And was overwhelmed with wonder
At such masterful shipbuilding
As the king now hailed the vessel
“Here she is, the ship Australis,
Carrier of our adventure
To explore and seek the Southland”
Han replied thus to the monarch,
“This is surely the most awesome
Ship that ever was constructed!
And that brings me to my question
“How can I assist this project?
What on earth can I contribute?
For this craftsmanship is greater
Far than my own humble boat craft”
And King Ptolemy then answered
“There is one thing you can bring us,
Since you are a foremost master
In the making of the small boat
“Nimble yet with strong construction
Crafted from a life’s experience
Fishing on the open ocean
Riding waves and tides and tempests
“For my ship will need some lifeboats
We must guard against disaster
If our craft should break and founder
In the lifeboats can be safety”
Han thus learned of his employment
And forthwith began the project
That would last two moons’ duration
Making lifeboats with the shipwright
Stargazing
Work however yet awaited
The respite of night and morning
Now was time for evening dinner
And the king now led them forward
Up the gangplank to the vessel
And they boarded the Australis
Took their places round a table
That was waiting on the main deck
Here they dined in royal fashion
Waited on by palace servants
In the seaside evening coolness.
Then appeared upon the foredeck
Artists bringing entertainment
Singers, dancers and musicians
Playing strings and pipes and tom-toms
And the merriment continued
Long into the tranquil evening
As the stars rose in a clear sky
Han and Kwona and the children
Were enchanted by the music
Kwona had to stop her husband
Staring spellbound at the dancers
Then the king called Han aside and
They together left the vessel
Both men climbed aboard a chariot
Pulled along by dogs at harness
And they travelled with their escort
From the port of Cannabarro
By an uphill winding road
Until they reached a grassy hilltop
Where a solitary building
Sat atop the rounded summit
They were ushered through the doorway
By a group of royal scholars
Who were busy still at nighttime
In the king’s observatory
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Chapter 14c
Warriors of mighty stature
Armed with blades of shining metal
Fire-wrought bronze, a work of wonder,
Walked beside a bright-robed figure
Slight of build and short in stature
Whitening hair around his temples
Now the warriors introduced him
As “King Ptolemy the Second”
Piercing eyes alive with wisdom
Held Han’s gaze for several moments
“Welcome, fisherman and traveler,
Welcome to our Island Kingdom!”
Han then bowed before the monarch
Speaking thanks for all the kindness
Given unto all his family
But King Ptolemy now checked him;
“There’s no need to be so formal!
We must turn to urgent business.
First however – are you hungry?
Please partake of these refreshments”
Han now noticed that the monarch
Had one most distinctive feature
Half of his right arm was missing!
Ending just below the elbow
Later Kwona would discover
Talking to the household servants
That this injury had happened
In his childhood as a princeling
When a palace insurrection
Had betrayed and killed his father
Whom he raised his hand defending
From the traitor’s wicked sword stroke
“Why should we be indoors lunching
In such sunny pleasant weather?”
Said the king, who asked his servants
That they take the table outside
So they dined out in the sunshine
Where a barbecue was burning
Cooking steaks of goat and wildfowl.
Jars of glass were now brought to them
Filled with clear fermented liquor
Golden and intoxicating
That to drink was cool and pleasant
It was called the “amber nectar”
Han attempted to be cautious
Drinking but a single vessel
But the king’s benign persuasion
Led to several further glasses
Being merrily upended
By both fisherman and monarch
Then the king became more lively
Turned and looked at Han intently
“Let us talk about the ocean
Of its storms, its tides and currents
Of the clouds, the winds and weather
And the hunting of the fish shoals
“Where they hide in blue-green ocean
Where to find the scuttling lobsters
How the waxing and the waning
Of the moon entrains the creatures
“Of the sea and of the coastline
In the rhythms of their movement
And the times of their abundance
When the crabs come to the rock pools
“When trevally shoal at nighttime
When the rocks encrust with shellfish
When the yellowtail and snapper
Gather in the tidal shallows
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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
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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
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CHAPTER 3c continued
Till he happened to encounter
A much stronger river hunter
Hideous Jurassic lizard
Pulled him down with no returning
Other crocodiles converging
Made straight lines like silver arrows
Churned and twisted in the water
Then the other three turned homeward
Standing on the river's north bank
Matto, Lisa held each other
Watched their parents struggle closer
In their flimsy leaking vessel
Till at last they gained the shoreline
And all four embraced each other
Wept for joy at their reunion
Then the children saw the monkey
As their parents told the story
Of their orphaned ape companion
Lisa tenderly bent down and
Lifted up the baboon infant
"Can I have it as a pet, Mum?"
"I don't think that is a problem"
So the monkey was adopted
Lisa chose to call her Rosy
CHAPTER 4 The Eagle
With that crisis now behind them
They continued trekking northward
Feeling great relief and gladness
Rosy scampered after Lisa
Kwona gave to Han the paired horns
She had severed from the bull's head
Han was curious at their shape, and
Cut and trimmed them with his hatchet
He remembered watching children
Playing with a wood-carved wing shape
How when thrown it flew while spinning
Sometimes changing its direction
So he carved the pair of horns
Into a wing-like aerofoil
It was angled in its flat plane
Forming straight symmetric sections
Then they tested this new wing-form
Practiced how to throw it spinning
So it first flew straight and level
Then swerved up and back towards them
In their travelling that followed
This new boomerang proved useful
Guinea fowl and grassland rodents
Could be killed at quite a distance
Han was skilled at fire-starting
Matto tried to learn the method
Which took patient dedication
That the boy found hard to master
They would light a fire at evening
Roast some bird or beast above it
Sometimes vegetables and shellfish
Then it smouldered through the night-time
On they walked through grassy scrubland
Sensed an inclination upwards
In the distance seeing jungle
Covering a hilly landscape
One day Lisa and her brother
Played at throw and fetch with Rosy
They would toss a stick or seashell
And the monkey would retrieve it
Then an eagle spotted Rosy
Started flying low toward them
Swooping fast across the grassland
Seizing Rosy in its talons!
Han was watching as this happened
As the children cried in horror
Quick the boomerang was readied
Han took careful aim and cast it
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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
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CHAPTER 6 (continued, c)
Several of the primate children
Sat together in the branches
Of a tree; they did not notice
Danger silently approaching
Through the leaves a brown and yellow
Shiny scaly serpent slithered
Closer to the young gorillas
Eyes unblinking glimmered palely
Then one of the watching mothers
Saw the snake and cried a warning
Hooting and gesticulating
Pointing out the present danger
Quick the boomerang was lifted
By the same young male gorilla
And he cast it at the tree-line
Low and fast in deadly earnest
Curving up into the branches
Fast it rose toward the python
But it missed by several hand-breadths
Looping back into the clearing
As the young ones in the treetop
Froze in nervous indecision
Matto now retrieved the wing-form
Took deliberate aim and threw it
Once again its spinning banking
Flight swerved up toward the serpent
This time smiting it amidships
With a sharp resounding impact!
And the python lost its purchase
Flailed and tumbled through the branches
But its spine remained unbroken
So it fled into the greenness
Then a riotous celebration
Sounded out from the assembly
Happy pongid exclamations
Resonated through the jungle
Matto found himself a hero
Several male gorillas bore him
Through the crowd, above head level
For a few ecstatic moments
Han then spoke some words to Matto
Fatherly advice of wisdom
Who, now back on terra firma
Looked around the crowded clearing
Noticed Kwona next to Lisa,
Rosy the baboon beside them
Who, like them, had managed to
Elude the sabertooth cat hunters
Then a fuzzy black-haired youngling
Brought the boomerang to Matto
Who then turned to the troop leader
To the silverback gorilla
And presenting him the wing-form
Signalled that he try to throw it
So the huge gorilla took it
Spreading murmurs of approval
Copying the throwing action
Of the boy some moments earlier
He then briskly threw the wing-form
Not however straight and level
Quick inflection in the flight-plane
Made it sharply bank and circle
And the boomerang, careering,
Almost struck a nearby female
Skimming through the hair-crest of a
Matriarch of haughty bearing
Who was foremost of the harem
Of the silverback troop leader
She then fixed on him a visage
That portended trouble later!
But the silverback's attention
On the boomerang was focused
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Chapter 1 THE FISHERMAN
At the dawn of humankind in
Africa's great land of sunlight
This adventure of survival
Of a family's arduous journey
One of exile and betrayal
And of hopeful brave endurance
Happened long before all memory
Only scattered bones bear witness
Mighty ice-sheets of the Arctic
Would again repeat their south-march
Hold the world in age-long winter
Then retreat to warming sunshine
All between this ancient voyage
And the present time of writing
Days of our long distant fathers
Few in number were the people
Somewhere on the south-east seaboard
Was a modest fishing village
Where a hundred families prized their
Living from the restless ocean
Here lived Han with his wife Kwona
Their son Matto, daughter Lisa
Twins of near a dozen summers
Old enough to help their parents
Lisa watched her mother's fingers
Make, like magic, food and clothing
Matto learned beside his father
As a fisherman's apprentice
Out of all the village menfolk
Han had knowledge far surpassing
All the others in the mysteries
Of the sea and sky and fishes
Thus when Han set sail with Matto
Other boats would launch soon after
Trying secretly to follow
Like a shadow after wisdom
There arose a time of hardship
Scarcity had come among them
As the currents of the ocean
Changed their rhythm and their courses
Boats returning to the beach had
Only few and tiny fishes
Hunger stalked the little village
Fear was seen on people's faces
Han prepared his boat with Matto
For their longest ocean journey
Packed equipment and provisions
And a cover from the weather
First they battled through the breakers
Then they rode a surging spring-tide
On an ocean that seemed hostile
Till at last they cleared the shallows
Striking offshore from the coastline
Green sea changed to deep blue ocean
Land was lost to sight behind them;
Han surveyed the vast horizon
Till, far off, he saw a crowd of
Seabirds diving in the water
Quickly Han and Matto paddled
Over to the seething tumult
Sardine shoals were being chased by
Albacore and blue-fin tuna
Soon their net was tugged so strongly
That their boat was near turned over
Son and father, muscles straining,
Filled their boat with silver fishes
Made them fast, then turning homeward
Journeyed back in happy spirits
On return they brought the fishes
To their family and their neighbors
News of their great catch spread quickly
People came from all directions
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Chapter 11 The Island Kingdom (f, continued...)
Near the north-most cape they passed, there
Lay the kingdom’s foremost city
By the name of Cannabarro
Here was found the royal palace
Of Ptolemy the Second.
In our time this city has the
Name of Antisiranana
This great city was however
Not the final destination
Of our fleet of sailing vessels
Which continued south along the
Eastern coast until they reached the
Bay of Antongil, wherein
They sailed up to its northern margin
To a small sea-faring town that
We now call Maroantsetra
(That great island’s wondrous place names
Long and beautiful to utter
Are a little hard to fit
Into inverse iambic rhythm!)
As the sun sank low before them
They saw tree-clad hills and beaches
Heard the screaming of the seabirds
As the ships approached a harbour
Sheltered by a wooded island
In a tranquil shallow inlet
Stood a row of waiting jetties
Made of sturdy timber gangplanks
Held by round-cut cores of tree trunks
Planted firmly in the seabed
This impressive port construction
Showed great prowess of its builders
Now their ship approached the quayside
With the aid of poles and rudder
As a sailor jumping nimbly
From the ship onto the jetty
Took in hand thick loops of bark-rope
Fore and aft secured the vessel;
So began the disembarking
Both the children with their animals
Were relieved that this sea crossing
Though exciting, now was ended
Han and Kwona and their family
Soon were standing on the shoreline
Then a group of men approached them
With them came a strange contraption
Wooden wheels rolled round an axle
Underneath a mounted platform
Two men towed the carriage forward
From a leading T-shaped harness
Now the vehicle stopped beside them
They had never seen its likeness!
Then the charioteers gave signal
To the family with their animals
That they climb the two-wheeled platform
Which they nervously attempted
Helped by Han and several others.
Round the margin ran a wood rail
Which they held to keep them steady
As the vehicle now lurched forward
Thus they rode by transport, laughing
As they rolled along the pathway
Han and several warriors walking
With the carriage, moving inland
On they rode upon the chariot
While the evening quickly darkened
Glimpsing nearby shapes of dwellings
Well-constructed wooden houses
Soon the travelling party halted
By a large impressive mansion
Several members of the household
Waited at the door to meet them
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