Victoria Falls

Mosi-oa-tunya,
The smoke that thunders,
Rolls around the cliff.
The rain-forest,
Tall leafy boughs and glistening blades of grass.
Warm exotic petals -
Dew soaked logs,
Rejoice in the life-giving rain,
The rain that never ends.

Wild, white stallions,
The sons of the wind,
Gallop along an azure road
To plunge to their deaths on the rocks below.
Manes and tails flashing like banners,
Each following his brother.
The turmoil of hooves below
Melts into forgotten foam.

In the river gorge,
Through misty curtains faintly seen,
A writhing monster.
Twisting in delight as tonnes of foamy water
Massage his restless back.
Nyaminyami,
The river god.
His coiled, scaled body an object of worship.
He lifts his head and plunges his fangs deep
Into the boiling river.

-oO*Oo-

Samantha Gerrard
June 1984

EMail : aethyrdragon@xsinet.co.za