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The Adventures of George (excerpts)

By Blair Gowrie (Thailand)

Excerpts from "The Adventures of George", 156 pages, paperback, published by Wordclay, ISBN 978-1-6048-1624-2

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The meeting was arranged and Karim was paid,
And after toasting their success went on his way.
Having carefully secreted the cheque in his pocket,
Leaving Kennedy alone to relax for a minute,
Enjoying once more the smooth taste of the stout,
And idly glancing at the pedestrians without.
Then his eyes moved on to the restaurant opposite,
And, from what he could see, business was quiet,
With very few customers going through the door,
But maybe it was too early, it was half-past four.
Then suddenly a stranger caught his attention,
Powerfully built and with a black complexion,
Who, with two burly guards stopped at the Al-Hambara
To be deferentially greeted by a fawning General Manager.
Kennedy reflected, he’d seen that face before,
Surely this was the man who was responsible for
The death of thousands through torture, and famine,
Yes, the African tyrant, the feared Didi Damin!
He must be in town for the United Nations,
I had better give George this information,
Thought Kennedy, to the club he must certainly go,
Forewarned is forearmed must be our motto.
A call to the club came the following morning
Reserving tables for President Didi Damin,
And a group of five for a 12 o’clock luncheon,
Specifying no pork, as all of them were Muslims.
“All right” said George, “we’ll give them a nice welcome,
And ensure their requests have our best attention.
“This president is a trencherman through and through,
His appetite is so great, that without much ado
He is able to out-eat at least ten hungry men,
Then call for some more and continue again”.
So all in the kitchen laboured mightily
Preparing dishes by the dozen all of which to be
Set before the powerful and unpredictable leader
In the hope they would keep him in a good humour.
In walked Damin at the appointed hour,
Causing a stir with his menacing demeanour,
Big, black and bulky, with a scowl on his face,
He was certainly not a person one would want to embrace,
And paying no attention to the others in the room,
He strode to his table and noisily sat down,
And glowering and baleful he waited for his food.
But the appearance of the first dish suddenly changed his mood
From darkness to light in only a moment,
And with a smile on his face began a ferocious assault
On the mountains of food stacked up before him,
Mouthful after mouthful in a smooth hypnotic motion,
Using only a fork and a spoon as his weapons,
The meat being cut up for him up by his minions.
This frenzied feasting coming at last to an end,
Damin wiped his face and toothpick in hand,
Looked around the room and stared at one person,
A man of about forty, tall dark and handsome,
Summoned a waiter and told him very curtly,
“Tell that man over there to come here immediately”,
Causing the waiter to scurry across the floor,
Then whisper something in the dark man’s ear,
Which made him smile and nod in assent,
And walk over to be in the dictator’s presence.
The waiter introduced him with not a little drama,
“Allow me to present Senator Borrock Sobama!”
“A senator”, cried Damin “this is a surprise,
But please sit down so you may be apprised
Of my objectives in coming to your country,
But before I do I’d like you to give me
Some information on your family’s history”.
Sobama said “My father was an African,
From Kenya, who married my mother, an American,
When he was a student in the Hawaiian Islands”.
“We are brothers,” roared Damin, and quickly seized
Sobama’s hand which he shook and squeezed,
Then gazed at him with the utmost admiration
That the young man had attained such an important position.
“To Kenya I’ve been to visit my kin”,
Said Sobama,” but as I am an American.
It’s in my own country that I must live and work”.
Then it was Damin’s turn to speak,
“Funds I have now at my disposal,
So I want you to listen to my proposal.
Millions of people here have African forefathers,
But little do they know of any African area,
Or African language, history or culture,
But I’ll change all this in the very near future.
By founding an organization which I will name
“The Damin African Promotion Exchange”,
With you as president, and then you must enroll
African-Americans, both young and old,
In all our programs, which will embrace
Culture, language, history, and replace
Indifference with interest, disorder with discipline,
And, this is the most important thing,
Our exchange program will be designed to allow
Americans an African experience to learn how
The various people live upon our continent,
And when Africans from different places are sent
To live in America they will learn a lot
About life in the world’s largest melting pot.
And, my friend, you must remember this,
As our organisation continues to flourish
Its numbers will make it a potent force,
With political influence, and, of course,
In economic and social matters too,
Which in the future will be of help to you.
And at this stage don’t worry about money,
My supporters will always donate to any
Good cause or charity I indicate,
So there will always be funds available for DAPE”.
Sobama was impressed by Damin’s ideas,
But first, he said, he’d have to clear
The whole plan through the regulatory authorities,
And if there were no problems about legality,
He could set up the organization within three months,
Starting with DAPE’s first New York branch.
“Well” said Damin, “I have to go now”,
And rising resumed his customary scowl,
And leaving his aides to pay for the luncheon,
Ambled on out with Sobama still considering
These pioneering proposals for DAPE,
The most radical an African leader had made,
And Sobama, on finally leaving the room.
Winked at George, saying, “you’ll hear more soon!”

(End of excerpt.)