Poepi and the Giant

Chapter 31 - Cast Ashore

Under the sea the serpents swam,

In the deeps, churning sand,

One day north, past fish boats’ dock,

Further north, then round the rocks,

Continuing east, for two more days,

Past coral reefs, winding and mazed,

Til all five appeared in reach,

Of an island, south and east,

Wailing, wailing, serpent screech,

Up they rose, above the beach.

The serpents stayed that way for hours,

Until sun set, when all the towers,

Saw a figure emerge from trees,

Dressed in white, billowing sleeves.

Straight to it the monsters flocked,

And bowed before Kamal Kamock.

“Out with her Girloi! Out with her now!”

Bar commanded, serpent heads bowed.

“Give her up, by my command,

Or rot forever in the sand!”

Angry bound to serve Bar’s care,

The Girloi screeched and screamed in air,

And glared at him, and stared at him,

Preparing to achieve his whim.

Behind Bar, beneath the palms,

Groups of soldiers, raised their arms,

As tallest serpent of the five,

Coughed and hacked, and writhed and wrythed,

And bent to beach, head and snout,

Up choking Poepi, spitting her out.

All the Girloi riled and railed

And bent their necks, and thrashed and flailed,

As their breaths washed hot the beach,

Through the gaping jaws of each.

Among each other’s lengths they rolled,

And shot straight up, and landed bold,

Back in ocean’s splashing spray,

Near the middle of the bay.

Their mission met, immediately,

The Girloi dropped back to the sea,

Until the last of all their scales

Departed with their dipping tails.

And in a pile, of spit out slime,

Poepi stirred, first in time,

Since Girloi, swallowed her whole,

And hid her in its gullet hole.

Her armour smelled like stomach gunk,

Stuck with slimy flecks and chunks,

So that her vision yawed and stretched,

And belly emptied, wretch by wretch.

The minutes passing felt like hours,

Until her stirs became more powered,

And she sat up with a start.

Shaking her head, looking the part,