THE ORIGINAL MAMMI WATA

This blue, blue, sea
the colour that of a mermaid
she glows in the deep sea
like the brightest star at night

She’s a goddess
born not of this world
but of her own world
she’s the original Mammi Wata

She’s specially drawn
into a life of spiritual theft:
human flesh her singular
preoccupation

She entices with her colour beauty
soft but tough
roars ——
everyday,
every night

Every first Saturday of the month
when the Mayor calls for communal labour
along the beaches of the sea
we run into a sad news: of several human carcasses.