Keeper of the Tomb

This sonnet tells the Ba-Thonga legend of a haunted elephant grave in the Zambezi Valley. 
I came across this story when patrolling the area during the Rhodesian war in 1973.
Where Sengwi cleft the stone that splits the wind
Beyond the ledge where Thekwane builds his nest 
Grows on those banks a sacred Tamarind
Beneath whose boughs Ndlovo once did rest
Where bones and teeth still lie here in the shade
A beast of grey and shadows lurks each noon
Nor walks nor feeds he in the valley glade
But weeps yet on the falling of the moon
Armed not with tusk this phantom uses fear
Protects the Mother that protected he
No scavenger nor beast allows he near
And hides those bones beneath that ancient tree
He guards with zest her long since rotted womb
So is in death “The Keeper of her Tomb”
                 
Graphic ©  W.W. Schwim
Sengwi      -     A tributary of the Zambezi. It cuts a canyon through remote rugged countryside.
Thekwane  -    (Pro - Tegwun) The Hammerkop bird builds an unusually large nest. It features strongly in African myth and legend.
Tamarind  -    Tamarindus Indica, An exotic tree introduced to the coastal region by the Arabs in the 1500 s. 
                        Considdered sacred in the far east. Its medicinal seeds and bark are loved by elephants. It has spread throughout the Zambezi valley.
Ndlovo      -     Ndebele(Zulu) name for Elephant.
 
© W Schwim, All rights reserved.