PenDragon - the official magazine of Lyford Cay International School PenDragon Vol 4, Spring 2018 | Page 20

Rhythm
and
Rhyme
By Savannah Roberts (2003-2014)
The Bahamas is not solely a paradise, but a place rich in values, traditions, and customs. This is my home. In 2017,
I completed several pieces of prose to reflect my feelings about this place and its treasures.
Free Fall Da Rush
I can already see the colour of the water starting to turn as I gaze from clouds,
approaching the sights and sounds of home, Lucaya. Dark blues churn into aquamarine
and turquoise waves, dancing towards the shore at ease. It is the Atlantic Sea that
houses my archipelago, composed of islands and cays, the true keys to happiness.
Where feet sink into pink and white sand, palms swaying ubiquitously, casting shade
over beings seeking shelter from the revolving sun. We quickly fall. My finger starts to tap along to the sweet resonance of Goombay music pumping into
my ears. My soul starts to swell as the island rhythms form illustrations of oil paintings
within my mind; on the horizon sail the Pinta, Niña and Santa Maria; at their helm
stands the fabled Christopher Columbus. I soon return to the sounds of whistles and
the beating of drums. Rush is the feeling we get when we hear the drums. Our hearts
catch its syncopation; I am heading home. Come Sunday morning, my mother will
pull me from my plush sheets and, as a family, we will enter the house of praise and
worship. The chants of hallelujahs followed by bellowing amens and shuffling feet in
church pews; this too, is home. Here, people you don’t know always seem to embrace
you with tender love.
As I drift away, eyes closed, I find myself in the sacred place of Guanahani. This is where
you find the fingers of children sifting the ocean floor in search of its bounty. Treasure
hunts like these seek not gold but the promise of sand dollars mounted on canvases in
foreign lands. It is where we come across the stars that seem too heavy, too bright for
the night sky, reflecting colours of fiery red starfish. Early mornings reserved for ocean
dives, carrying backpacks of air for our lungs, as we swim alongside those who lurk and
maneuver the ocean reefs.
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