19. Thatch
I see
them walking home through the sultry shadows of the ghommos at the end of a
long day;
it’s
the end of winter, the grass is ripe. Ready.
Measuring
their paces like someone documenting a long journey,
they
head home.
Thick
thatch, bundled burdens, carried on their heads, supported by proud necks and
elegant shoulders.
They
move graciously like their own shadows, holding their heads high.
In spite
of the load, there is a lightness in their hearts,
carrying
it with dignity and carrying it with pride.
It
will bring warmth on cold winter nights
and it
will be cool on hot summer days.
Simple
thatch. Twined together like vibrant families into larger communities.
Labour
of love.
They
sing and cut and sing and measure and then,
all at
once, stamp them into shape.
All
the edges aligned: from grass to thatch.
Labour
of duty.
On
their straight backs and proud shoulders they carry, and they sing,
and
they sweat,
and
they ache
and
they laugh
A baby
is born, and the golden thatch will proclaim their joy;
a
bright new life
a new
hut,
a new
place.
With
him the thatch will fade, its colour lost.
Its
purpose may remain for many seasons and many harvests
but at
the end it will be, like the old life, replaced.
Amongst
the songs and dances the young and fresh will replace the old and the wise.
Dexterous
hands will merge branches into poles and grass into thatch
to weave
a roof as strong as a nation.
All
together.
Grass
to thatch to roof. Sheltering life, and transitioning nature into homes;
from
the earth the mud will rise into walls structured by poles to strengthen
and
carry the heavy loads being brought in on proud necks and elegant shoulders.
A calf
is born and stands for the first time in the moonlit night.
The
young heifer will lick him, love him, support him
and
the life of the herd bull will begin here and now, on this cloudless night.
Somewhere
distant a dog barks and a lonely drum measures the journey of life.
Until
morning.
A
fresh bucket of water is brought to the surface by the tender muscles of
adolescent girls,
laughing
and spilling water in the sand; their shy smiles offer me some,
and I
wash my sunburnt face in the cool of the water and think of the thatch:
a similar coolness, the rich smell of water
from the earth.
Through
the water in my eyes, I see the oxen harnessed to a plough,
and
soon the soil will be turned and its rich smell will announce its
receptiveness.
Ripe.
Ready. For the seeds to germinate.
It
will harbour and nourish a crop, if the rains are good.
They
duck down into thick grass where no bold man will go, where leopards and snakes
may linger
in the shade of the tall grass.
Labour
of love. Labour of duty;
to
provide shade and warmth, protection from the sun.
Thatch.
They
sing and they cut and measure and they stamp grass into thatch.
And
they smile and they wave, as we drive past
into
our future, leaving them in our past.
They
are memories, etched in my mind forever.