Each, in their time,
will mount the stage
with performance starting
from the moment
the first cry is made
to signal breath of life.
Eyes gaze to analyse
from the gender to its aesthetic
Is it cute?
Can we like it?
What “colour”?
Then the curiosity graduates to:
can they learn fast?
How smart can they be?
Then it evolves:
ambition starts getting compared
who wants to be a pilot?
Who will be a teacher?
We measure,
then we test
and test some more based on metrics.
A fish must climb the tree
so the fish learns quite quickly
that the swiftness of its fin
will never be examined in water.
It starts to perform
putting up a show
creating an illusion of climbing.
Some manage to leave the stage
when the ovation is loudest,
others stay behind, too long
so that yesterday’s hero
become today’s villain.
For the majority
their show will never be watched
but that means nothing to the fish
who has been swimming in water.
It is the fish trying to climb a tree
that suffers the hang up.

Image credit: Toni Carthan via Pinterest