Fish Out Of Water Poem by Deluke Muwanigwa

Fish out of water

I am fish out of water. My gills are running out of life giving water. My scales are peeling off little by little. I am trying to close my eyes, but i was never endowed with eyelids.

I reminisce the good old days in the sea swimming among the sharks. It was dangerous, but at least we could hide in the corals and wait for the sharks to swim by.The lion fish we could spot even in the dark. We were much safer.

I remember migrating to fresh water channels but we started injesting plastic pellets. We dont know where these came from. There were dangerous nylon strings with a shiny piece of metal with tantalizing worms gyrating rhymically in the tide.
Many of my brothers and sisters got hooked and got yanked out of water by this dangerous predator. This predator i could see shape shifting above water, sometimes on the bank or sometimes sitting in an odd shaped fibreglass raft.

I do not have much time left so let me say my prayers. My totem is the fish. All living things were derived from me, adapting from the deep sea in search of better homes away from whales, sharks and dolphins. Some of those creatures now turn against me and out of cannibalism have developed a taste for me. Anyway, i see a stream of water not far. If i can just wriggle a little i might just fall in. If i make it you will hear from me. If i don't make it you will not hear from me.

My last words will be, " I can't breathe! ".