Across the Atlantic, I missed many a bait.
A thousand nets drawn, my speed got me no hook.
One lucky day, I’d come out of the waters.
The day I got trapped,
I heard his voice, my trap-man.
Flaunting my tail, twists and dances,
I saw a bait!
I got hooked.
He did well to preserve me
Smoked,
Dressed and blessed.
I’d later be a good meal.
I was one fish to be eaten with care
I’d choke him if he went fast on me,
I’d like to think I was sweet.
But I’ve never seen him again, my trap-man.
The rest of me is in the pit rotting away,
Dogs sniffing at me.
Men,
They eat the sweetness in us
Dump our innocent miserable bones,
And look for the next fish to devour.
“Don’t bite at the bait of pleasure,
Until you know there’s no hook”
Read Colourful world – A Poem by Nelson Kamkuimo, Cameroon
