Khoi-Khoi: Gathering The Past
Spectre Song
Of
GuriQua
Who
walked the coasts
Of
Recall the day
Of
CochoQua
Who
found the bay
Of
Saldanha
Recall the place
Of
Khoi-Khoi past
With
faded face
In
shadows cast
Recall the name
Of
Adam Kok
And
what remains
Of
Baster stock
Recall the sound
Of
clicking tongue
Whose
notes abound
In
songs still sung
Rich Harvest
Tamer
of beasts
Patron of feasts
Guardian of earth
Giver
of birth
Tender of sheep
Sower
who reaps
Herder of cattle
Farmer who battles
Wearer of thongs
Dancer of songs
Tribes who find-seek
Clans
who click-speak
Hunter of roots
Bearer of fruits
Master of whale-traps
Reader of wind-maps
People of chiefs
Reaper of sheafs
Makers of law
Harvest no more
Melting Pot
From
dry salt lakes
To
southwest sands
Their
dust-path snakes
Through time-baked lands
They
were the first
Pastoralists found
With
seed dispersed
On
nurturing ground
Left
in their wake
With
clay-moulded shapes
And
tools from iron hewn
Cut
with the scythe
Of
settlers’ disease
Fate’s bitter tithe
Still
haunts the sea-breeze
Those
who survive
Reconcile their lot
To
mix and thrive
In
the melting pot
Copyright 2005
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