An emerald set in bronze I'm told they call this Isle of St. Helena the bizarre rocks along her coast are daunting to the eye, and well hidden is the green, green land that makes its` viewers sigh.
The grass is so much greener than the eye can comprehend, so green, in fact so lush that one, in retrospect, must surely wonder, if some artist stopped and painted it with some gigantic brush.
And who painted all the birds I've seen ? Fairy terns in snowy white cardinals in carmine and the cadmium canary, who'll sing his joyful song to all, so stop and listen if you can tarry for a while.
What about the mynah bird so busy all day long chanting, chatting to his comrades or stealing scraps of food left in chip bags, or on tables he`s my favorite he`s a star.
The flowers I have seen here wild ginger, pots of gold, frangipani, bougainvillia, ladies petticoats and all, are but a fraction of the beauties I did see. There is even one called Dogwood, an endemic plant is he.
And the fruits that I have eaten Paw-paw, mango, Sweet-potato, yams and chau-chau too, and the purple granadilla that really is a treat, I even had some toungies from the prickly prickly-pear.
But though I went to Man and Horse no horses did I see Horse Pasture sad belies its` name and it`s been said to me that the only horse that still remains on Saint Helena Isle is the old one down at Deadwood a poor, forgotten, lonely soul.
The rugged face of Sandy Bay did set my soul a'fire. Burnished red and gold and violet against the cool atlantic blue, she's majestic, she's magnificent, too princely to be true.
Her crags diffused by passing shadows thrown by the warm caressing sun and the subtly changing hues of light, that mingle with the mind, turn into giant living sculptures of the Giacometti kind.
And the sunsets of the island just take my breath away. And the sky, pollution-free and dark so full of stars at night. And the sea so crystal-clear, so royal-blue All that belongs to me.
Yes, I'm enslaved, my heart is lost to this Isle of St. Helena spewn from the sea so long ago by some colossal urge within the earth, within the womb of nature, and of life.
The fires of that genesis burn in my spirit still I am a proud and grateful child that I was born of it. And now that I've returned to see this land that nurtured me, I say Thankyou God for letting me be me.
