By Angus Calder
Four crabs from the cold firth
alive for a shilling. The largest
reared in the pot, in spite of
the fierce water, but soon
we cracked his limbs with our teeth
and wheedled with spoons and fingers
for the last shreds of flesh
from the crannies of his briny body.
In that brittle maze
I found no features to remind me
of our brains, our livers
or our smooth bellies, yet doubtless
their functions were held by some part
of the paste of his cavities.
Spread, soup and risotto –
only the gills were rejected.
In the days we ate him
I did not forget
his moment on the floor
to amuse the baby, when she
gloated at the slow clash
of his last menace,
nor that shape which made me think
of a soft soldier
fried in the cockpit of a tank.
--------
Our next door neighbors had ordered a six-pack and gave us eclipse glasses, but our weather on Monday did not cooperate for us to see even the 20% partial eclipse in the Seattle area -- it was heavily overcast all day. So we watched the eclipse coverage on CNN and admired the photos Adam and Haley sent from Maine, where they got to witness totality. Most people I know who traveled got good weather, so I am happy for them!
It was otherwise a pretty quiet day (laundry, walk to the beach) before evening when the NCAA tournament concluded; I was rooting for Purdue in Big 10 solidarity, but I'm sure Paul's father will be very happy that UConn won, so it's all good. Now we're watching Elton John & Bernie Taupin: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song on PBS, which is pretty awesome (Brandi Carlile!). Red rock crabs at low tide at Carkeek Park:
No comments:
Post a Comment