who would have thought
after all these generations
of being as smart, as clever,
we would end up making
pappyshow for people.
mind you it has its benefits;
no killer whale eating we
for dinner; we don’t have
to grieve we pickney them
cause they get ketch in big
net or worse yet, get kill
by sonic attacks. Life here…
well sometimes you do get
tired of jumping up and down
with these people; but at least
they try to be gentle with you,
and you can feel their reverence;
and we really can’t help
we self, being so smart
and all, to make them feel
good; for we feel good
doing this; but, every
once in a while, we miss
just swimming ahead
of a boat teasing it to catch
we. But we are not going
to have no babies, ’cause
it too hard to tell them
what we had; where we come
from; and we couldn’t tell
them. This is all:
this small little pond,
this jail,
these people feeding
us, thinking they loving
us. Yes; life used to be more
than, much more than hugs
and kisses from The Bahamas.
•••
Charles Huggins was born in Nevis and works in Canada, but lived in The Bahamas, where the bulk of his poetry was produced. He is a product of the Cropper Foundation Caribbean Writers’ workshop (Trinidad), and his work has appeared in Junction, From the Shallow Seas, Kunapipi, and Lignum Vitae.
tongues of the ocean 