Poem: The Lionfish - Nassau, Bahamas

Our waters are being invaded by a lionfish
that has many names,
a species that has no natural predators.
Our culture is being ravaged by a social disease
whose unconstructive side effects are to maim, rob,
kill and plunder.
Poisonous to the slightest touch are the spines
of this venomous marine life,
a painful threat to innocent divers
and scale-filled schools.
Scarred for life are teachers pummeled by parents and kids
or visitors stabbed in neighboring schools.
Beware of the large finned scorpionfish,
it likes to swallow its prey whole.
Fear and ignorance is the criminal’s main weapon,
and our national and touristy reputation is paying the toll.
But first one must examine the sources,
how the aquatic devils managed to flourish in our back yard.
Look at our community in the mirror
and deal with the poor parenting issues and moral complacency
that caught us off guard.
Prevent people who have lavish aquariums with lionfish
from releasing them into our native seas.
Reduce the exorbitant amount of children having children
and counteract the rise in illiteracy.
The lionfish has lightning quick reflexes;
it likes to corner its victim during the hunt.
Newspapers, preachers and gossipers conceal
the causes of immorality by blaming violent movies,
struggling teachers, government institutions
and Haitian immigrants.
Now that we know that the voracious dragonfish exists
we must eliminate it from our shoals.
Address the root causes of domestic violence
before rage and emotional outbursts result
in stab wounds, rape or bullet holes.
The Bible states in Proverbs 22 verse 6,
“to train up a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not depart from it.”
But with daily visual examples of adultery,
littering, promiscuity, traffic violations
and illicit gambling our kids will fail to reap the benefits.
Our shallow waters are being invaded
by a lethal lionfish that has many names,
a species that has no natural predators.
“We”, as a nation need to fix
the absence of parenting skills in the home
and stop relying on police, politicians,
pastors and teachers to be our saviors.
By Sean Ruize Munnings
The Raga-Lover

Copyright © 2007 Sean R. Munnings, all rights reserved.