A Poem from the Archives:
Vol. 19, No. 74, Page 77 (December 1992)
“ ... this further shore of Africa”
Derek Walcott
Once Lamming at Bathsheba looking eastward
and night rising like a great wave widening
across the slate grey water, I watched it
overtake a late, lone seabird.
“If you sail due east from here,” he said
“You’ll make landfall at Dakar.” I felt
Imagination weigh anchor under me, entrust
herself to the sable element, and as
we hove clear of the reef I could still
make out his spune of white hair
leaping, could hear the echo of his voice
returning from the other side of earth
make one with the surf’s boom.