DAVID KASEI WAPAR
An entry in The Crocodile Prize
Kina Securities Award for Poetry
Wild and free as any aquatic life can be
Glistening under the crystal blue waters of the Pacific
Your skin slivery smooth and shiny
From time immemorial, the ocean was your home
Rightfully yours and the only place you freely roam
There you swim graciously snapping at the plankton
Beautiful ocean dweller
Beautiful gentle tuna
It was so until humans came by
Casting their big nets that reached the ocean floor
Dragging the whole school onto the boat
Out of the ocean unto the world of gravity
‘Flip flap’ you go, twisting and turning in vain
You join the stack of life-less cold bodies on the deck
Choruses of heavy spasms until you reach that last breathe
Into the slaughter house, and then the can
From the Tasman seas to the Philipines
From the Coral seas to the Hawaii tiki
Just like the beautiful island people, your life was at peace
Against the horizon I see you leap magnificently
Whatever you have out there I guess it must be a hearty meal
But beware the seagulls are right above waiting to strike swiftly
Beautiful ocean dweller
Beautiful gentle tuna
It was so until humans came by
Casting their big nets that reached the ocean floor
Dragging the whole school onto the boat
Out of the ocean unto the world of gravity
‘Flip flap’ you go, twisting and turning in vain
You join the stack of life-less cold bodies on the deck
Choruses of heavy spasms until you reach that last breathe
Into the slaughter house and then the can