One fish among a thousand
One voice drowned in an ocean
You streak past predators and cleave through currents
Under their noses for the ultimate present
The choiciest meat that is the fisherman’s bait
A ticket to above awaits
Your sister climb over your shoulder
But you fling her off to the under
Your brother steps a foot over your head
But you bite off his fins until you see red
The fisherman has one hook for one fish
So not your entire family can fulfill their wish
The race is not who gets up there first,
For many have been rejected by the fisherman’s thirst
He wants their champion whose strength and talent surpassed all
Many contenders; many downfalls
My brother can shoot endless bubbles in a straight line
My sister’s balance enables her to swim down an incline
Some make music by flapping their fins
Some can outsmart two-legged creatures with superior genes
But I, I’ve memorized the entire layout of the sea floor
And practiced the dash for a perfect score
As the water gets clearer, clearer, clearer
My finish line looms nearer, nearer, nearer
Until I swallow the wriggling worm
And break through the water in my proudest form
The fisherman’s probing eyes moved up his brows
A rumbling question: “who art thou?”
I suck in my gills and answered
“I am the food on your table, the prey in your hand, or something else by your standards.”
“Oh, foolish fish, you don’t even know shrimp from whale
You don’t even know who thou art and thus you fail.”
For all the people who went through the college application process or will start it soon :)