Now Let’s Tell A Fishy Tale
The lesson I learnt
In the school of fishes
No dry teacher can teach
In a thousand years.
Behold the phalanx of fins surging
In and out of the classroom of waiting waters
The Tilapia shouts
“T” for “Teacher”,
A chalky smile on its learned lips
The Rainbow Fish
Glides slowly through
The alphabet of its hues
Block-headed Catfish
And its dark, intelligent body
Glistering, glistening in the liquid sun
Veteran hoopman of the fireplace
Peppersoup prince with the soft, alluring order
A head too big for a modest crown
And here comes Obokun bokun bokun*
Full, round fleshfeast and triumphant treat
Seminal conference of the onion’s pungent opinion
The pepper’s spicy prize, tomato’s toast
Sokoyokoto: Here comes the magic key
To the husband’s heart, then his purse
A Mudskipper’s hop-step-and-jump
Lands it pat on my farm-ward path,
A guest so welcome, though so unexpected
Loud laughter in the kitchen tonight
Rain, rain, rain, for ever beneficent,
Swell the river and its teaming tribes
Oh so delicious my endless lesson
In the gut’s endless craving
And the school of fishes
*A kind of fish highly valued and cooked as a special delicacy
** Make-the-husband-robust
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