Bellfyflop Competition, Shangri-La Hotel

Here there is red tile,
a blue pane of water
and fat tight around
their necks, wrists, ankles,
loose around their stomachs.

They line up and wait,
we wait, the pane of water waits
for this unsanctioned championship –
no prize money, no pictures
in the local paper.

I will only remember what happened here
because I wrote it down.
They will only remember until
their pinkbellies fade,
the colour drained out,
the water once again still,
something else.

– Accra, Ghana

~ Rob Taylor

Rob Taylor lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. In November, he released a chapbook of poems from Ghana, where he lived with his wife in 2006/07, entitled Child of Saturday. He is also the co-founder and editor of One Ghana, One Voice, Ghana’s only online poetry magazine. His poems have appeared recently in The Dalhousie Review, The Antigonish Review, and Rocksalt: An Anthology of Contemporary BC Poetry. More of his writing is available at http://roblucastaylor.com.

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