Ode To the Incredible, Edible Lobster
Under the depths below the deep
of this Atlantic Ocean,
live the lobsters that crawl and creep
with an articulated motion.
They thrive on the ocean’s sea floor,
from the sloping shoreline
to beyond the Great Shelf and more,
where the sea reeks of brine.
They live and hide in crevices
and burrows under rocks,
snug amidst the interstices,
safe like a shepherd’s flocks.
Their diet is omnivorous:
live prey such as fish, worms,
crustaceans, mollusks—and us!
(Ughh! that part makes us squirm.).
Stories of their longevity
are passed on more often than not;
some live to be seventy
years old, when finally caught.
Long-bodied, with muscular tails,
ten walking legs (three pairs
of which are claws), framed in hard shells,
they can look like bugbears;
and weigh as much as forty pounds
(or more)! A lobster this huge
naturally dumbfounds and astounds,
like some hoax or a subterfuge.
Believe it or not, back before
the mid-nineteenth century,
lobster was a food for the poor,—
a mark of want and penury.
Indeed, inmates disliked lobster
so much, they ate it with distaste;
even a dignified mobster
could not eat it with a straight face!
It seems our ancestor’s distaste
for this invertebrate
was in error and was misplaced,
much to their discredit.
People today enjoy this beast
in several, delicious ways:
alone, or together in a feast
as part of festive holidays.
When boiled or steamed live, they change
color within several minutes
of cooking from blue to deep-orange,—
Ah! the meat’s now so exquisite.
Enjoy it as “Lobster Newberg,”
a seafood dish du jour
(cooked up by Captain Ben Wenberg)!
Or as “Lobster Thermidor,”
a French seafood dish of creamy
blend of cooked lobster meat,
egg yolks, some cognac, and brandy,
and Gruyére—a culinary feat!
Then there’s lobster soup and rolls,
a thick cream soup of bisque,
or Capòn magro—salad bowls
for your gastric pleasure and risk!
Lobster du jour or lobster you want,
whatever your palate requires;
any New England restaurant
can fulfill your dining desires!
Lobsters are indeed a great food;
we fish, sell, buy, eat them to such
large amounts! But we’d be unshrewd,
if we eat and fish them too much.
Please save them for Earth and the deep,
so that the Atlantic Ocean
always has lobsters that crawl and creep
with an articulated motion.
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