Poetry

South Sea Shuffle

Derek Fenton;

A cynic or medical scientist might say
It is the Amiodarone kicking in
But my heart begs to differ.
The moment I placed both feet
On African soil
And removed the shaking left leg
From the Antipodes
My fibrillation cleared
And the sinus rhythm returned.
It happened eleven days before it should
And my heart tells me it was when
The soutpiel left leg straddling the Indian Ocean
Swung over to join the firmly planted right
In Africa.

At that precise moment
The heart of Africa beat
And welcomed me home;
My Africa, my home.

My head wonders …

soutpiel = a person who cannot give up allegiance to an overseas country and has a leg in each country, hence a “salt penis”.