Poem for Poetry Thursday

Happy last Poetry Thursday for 2006! Since it is the end of the year, I've been too busy to write something new. So it came down to a choice between a poem about maternity leave or a writing exercise about lobsters.

I don't know exactly where this quirky poem came from, but it's told from the point of view of a lobster. And I'm quite sure that this one will never see the light of day again.

Enjoy the lobsters!



Lobster Love


Even a blind lobster finds a mollusk or two, you say,
bold as an August tide along the Maine coast.
You sit beside me and watch boats circle overhead,
dead fish and bottom-dwelling invertebrates,
our friends, swirl into a mini-vortex while lowly laborers
drop their traps in the waters above.

I have never loved another the way that I love you:
hopelessly, complicatedly, crazed.
We’ve tunneled together through the fronds of seaweed
and walked along the bottom feeding
as if we were the only two crustaceans in the Atlantic Ocean.
Someday we’ll settle among the cobble
but for now we’ll keep plodding.

All night a slow-moving rain raises the tide.
Deep between the mud and rocks
we shed our fragile shells and listen
to waters parting in our shallow inlet,
knowing our soft shells crack and our claws snap off
if handled without care, without love.

Comments

Jayne said…
Wow..I don't think I've ever likened, well, anything to lobsters.

Anyway, I really enjoyed this. Warmed up my heart on this cold morning.
That is so wonderful, we could all (well most of us) do with being a little less like crustaceans....
Dennis said…
I’m with Jayne on the “Wow!” I think my favorite line is “we shed our fragile shells and listen to waters parting in our shallow inlet” Isn’t that what we have to do to deepen love? Shed our shells in our place of vulnerability? You’ve captured that beautifully!
mareymercy said…
This is pretty great, coming from a lobster prompt. Who knew?!
SquareTraveler said…
This is far and away the best lobster love poem I've ever read. The great thing is that it could easily have been people. But it wasn't. It was lobsters.
It's very well-written and creative.
January said…
Squaretraveler, "This is far and away the best lobster love poem I've ever read."

You are too funny!
Okay, I am completely impressed with the idea of a writing exercise on lobsters--who thought of this? (We have called lobsters "monsters" in the years since my youngest has been born, since this is her name for them). I have to say, I fell into the slow-moving rain raising the tide...just beautiful. Maine is a magical vacation spot of ours...so I felt this setting with my whole heart. Have a great New Year's Eve!
--D.--
Geek Love Two!
Emily said…
This is great! Who knew something so beautiful could come from lobsters? I love thinking that lobsters have a comlicated and crazy love.
Anonymous said…
What a great perspective!

This reminds me that I need to write a poem from the perspective of the squirrels in my backyard.
angie said…
How sweet of you to inspire some affection for those poor lobsters! The first line of the second stanza makes me want to hear some Aretha (my favorite song). Well done - Thanks!
Anonymous said…
I love this! Listen to this part, January. I want to quote it back to you:

We’ve tunneled together through the fronds of seaweed
and walked along the bottom feeding
as if we were the only two crustaceans in the Atlantic Ocean.


How could anyone not love that?
wendy said…
I love the last lines...Never have been much of a lobster eater...now I am glad!
Catherine said…
I think this catches the vulnerability of love beautifully.
So, let me get this straight, your Wednesday poem is a poem for Poetry Thursday, and your Thursday poem isn't? :)
January said…
Catherine, yes, the Wednesday poem is one I posted for PT, while the Thursday poem seemed approprite for the end of the year.


Thanks for the feedback everyone. Originally, I put this poem away and thought it was too silly to be seen. But now I'm giving it a second look.
January said…
Dana, in some strange way, I'm talking about my husband and me.

Thanks for quoting me back to me :)
Kay Cooke said…
I just love that poem to death! :)
Dani In NC said…
I don't think the poem is silly at all. It's touching.

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