Nice catch

2025
Oil on linen
19,7 x 19,7 in

Nice catch

She is truly beautiful, Émilie.
Slender, delicate, and wise, the young girl walks through the jungle to reach the beach.
Fresh and radiant in her taffeta dress, her earrings jingle with each step she takes.

The mosquitoes and spiders, a little mesmerized, blink all their eyes and watch her walk.
She blends into the soft vines and caresses of the leaves, and her red bun leaps like a squirrel.

The day has been long, she has worked too hard, she is eager to join her friends to chill.
Enjoy the end of the day, the sunset over the last tide.
Have some drinks, but not too late, and listen to a little guitar.

Schlak! Ouch! Heeeyyy!
An insect just stung her!
She turns around and looks at her shoulder, bewildered.
In her arm, a syringe is planted.
In the distance, a strange animal lurks beneath the palms.

Overcome with torpor, the delicate child loses her fervor.

Émilie, under chemical influence, submitted to the whimsical forest,
Victim of wild promises and prey to sweet words,
Your little sisters, hidden in the ficus, will avenge you for these ways.
No custom, no practice, will ever stop you from being wise again.

The gun-wielding animal that dismembered you, and drank you to the dregs,
The vile one who put you to sleep with his treachery,
We will make him know at daybreak,
The joy of being hunted, captured, and taken in turn.

We are all here,
Hidden in the bushes,
Your predator, hunted, will end up impaled.

Sophie-Gaëlle Martin • February 2025