Woman of Africa

One day while walking on the beach I noticed a woman fishing from the rocks. Nothing remarkable you might think, until you understand that here this is a predominantly male preserve. She inspired the following:

She stands unmoving in the spray
This woman of Africa
She is immutable, she is steadfast
The waves are relentless
Pounding impotently against the lava of old
The woman is timeless as she is bold
She is the rock on which she stands

As they reflect the amber depths
Of unplumbed, undefined emotion
Her journey is an unbroken step
Walked with stoic endurance
A life unremarked and unnoticed
It will end as it began
On a palette of reeds
In an unfloored hut
Dust to dust, ashes to ashes
Living to newly departed

Still the waves keep coming
The rocks stand firm
Her timelessness slowly fades
Until another stands in her place