Crabbing Poems | Examples

Blue Flash

Lichen that writes history on a page
Blue flash buttressing hope
Old Woman in stone barn
Her memory waits your coming
Vice like her rumblerings
especially in Autumn time
where frost is punishing
catches the crabbing sun
MY heart shudders as she talks
The syllabic blood that drains
as twittering seagulls loom

Crabbing

A disturbance in the sand
betrayed their hide
and when prodded by a rake,
claws shot up
primed to latch onto
a careless finger or toe.

A big "bluey" had a fearsome
bite and seemed
to prefer to sacrifice a claw
rather than let go.  Their grip
on the rake, though, was their
undoing, hanging on whilst
being lifted up then shaken
loose to fall helpless
into a floating tub.
By morning's end
the tub would be 
a writhing fill of crabs
clawing to free themselves
from a hopeless fate.
It was a pathetic sight.

Hauled ashore, most 
were still alive when Dad
and I got them home.
They wriggled and bubbled 
in the damp bottom 
of the metal tub.
I can remember the salty smell
of what I thought was fear
let out by their silent screams.
Their suffering seemed 
too much to justify a feed. 
Then I would think of Jesus 
and the fish he caught
to expunge my childhood guilt.
Taken out and washed clean 
they would be dropped
into a big iron pot and boiled
until they turned bright red,
the color of demons stoking 
hellfire in a bible picture book.

The Trials and Tribulations of Life

They're once in a lifetime
These moments of joy
The first time you rattle
That colourful new toy

Your first day at school
With the rest of the kids
Your hair all slicked down
Bad smells Mom got rid

The ultimate joy
Of your first tender kiss
The shock when she tells you
Her period she missed

A puff from a cigarette
Makes you dizzy and ill
The beer in the closet
I remember it still

The joy of first child
The smell of their skin
The softness of touch
Their sweet tiny grin

Your first big promotion
The raise that you get
The first time you notice
A grey hair NO NOT YET!

Middle age quickly follows
With a sickening thud
It's all over now
Your life is pure crud

The sixties are next
And retirement awaits
Where did it go
You're in a hell of a state

Then someone says wryly
You've had a good life
'Whatcha crabbing about?'
But it still cuts like a knife

These tender sweet moments
You experience through time
You'll remember them fondly
And treasure the climb 

Hold on to them tightly
They won't come again
They're once in a lifetime
They're to treasure my friend

A Zulu Warrior

Do you sometimes see a Zulu Warrior
Staring back from the mirror in the morning
A nasty fierce looking bad tempered dude
Obscenities flying out without warning

Crabbing bout having to make a living
But enjoying all the many accoutrements
If it wasn't for that, it'd be something else
People just love to complain and vent

A shower and shave, you're almost human
Not one person will ever suspect
That a member of the Zulu Warriors tribe
Was a coworker of great respect

Do you sometimes see a Zulu Warrior
Staring back from the mirror each morning!

Once In a Life Time

ONCE IN A LIFETIME

They're once in a lifetime
These moments of joy
The first time you rattle
That colourful new toy

Your first day at school
With the rest of the kids
Your hair all slicked down
Bad smells mom got rid

The ultimate joy
Of your first tender kiss
The shock when she tells you
Her period she missed

A puff from a cigarette
Makes you dizzy and ill
The beer in the closet
I remember it still

The joy of first child
The smell of their skin
The softness of touch
Their sweet tiny grin

Your first big promotion
The raise that you get
The first time you notice
A grey hair NO NOT YET!

Middle age quickly follows
With a sickening thud
It's all over now
Your life is pure crud

The sixties are next
And retirement awaits
Where did it go
You're in a hell of a state

Then someone says wryly
You've had a good life
'Whatcha crabbing about?'
But it still cuts like a knife

These tender sweet moments
You experience through time
You'll remember them fondly
And treasure the climb 

Hold on to them tightly
They won't come again
They're once in a lifetime
They're treasures my friend

Walking the Tide Flats

When I'm walking through the tide flats
I'm creating a space in my heart
For gladness and gratitude
I taste the tangy bite of the clam
As the seagull gulps
The wind against my hull feels briny
Buffeted by the seas breath
I follow warm currents
Finding shells ravished by the years
Similar to my own
Crusted with barnacles, living
Still as shelter to crabs or daughters
High the song of the scavengers
Mournful sound cannot dappen me
My eyes gaze the horizon
Follow the waves back to shore
Hear also the silence
Of islands distant blue bulk
Hanging from beneath stormy clouds
Pushed west by the offshore fan
The sun warms my hands as i walk
I see a heron glide with grace
Past me to land among the gulls
Crabbing must be good here
Empty carcasses left behind in the sand
Lead me to the edge that lines the earths shape
To dip my toes in serenity's ample arms
Brighter are the days thus spent
The harmony of the sea
Alive beside each step as I cruise home

Once In a Lifetime

They're once in a lifetime
These moments of joy
The first time you rattle
That colourful new toy

Your first day at school
With the rest of the kids
Your hair all slicked down
Bad smells Mom got rid

The ultimate joy
Of your first tender kiss
The shock when she tells you
Her period she missed

A puff from a cigarette
Makes you dizzy and ill
The beer in the closet
I remember it still

The joy of first child
The smell of their skin
The softness of touch
Their sweet tiny grin

Your first big promotion
The raise that you get
The first time you notice
A grey hair NO NOT YET!

Middle age quickly follows
With a sickening thud
It's all over now
Your life is pure crud

The sixties are next
And retirement awaits
Where did it go
You're in a hell of a state

Then someone says wryly
You've had a good life
'Whatcha crabbing about?'
But it still cuts like a knife

These tender sweet moments
You experience through time
You'll remember them fondly
And treasure the climb 

Hold on to them tightly
They won't come again
They're once in a lifetime
They're to treasure my friend

Starfish-

'Starfish!' said I, 'thing of a moray eel.'
Be it black ocean space;
Or in the breathing coral seas;

Back into my memories squiding;
To warn me about the sea turtle;
The cetacean coral reef crabbing;
Sharks and piranhas kidnapping;

I heard a tentacled, seagoing inking;
I wrote a story with the octopus pen;
I was a harbour porpoise and you a tuna sandwich;
The brokered bottlenose whale blossoming;

The sphinx moth singeing;
Only this and a sturgeon;
In there stepped a shovel nose 'whale shark';
In there stepped a 'lake trout.';
Dolphins lookout;

To warn me about the bluefin;
The foul flatfish forging;
All my soul within me gorging;
In there stepped a coral sea cucumber;

I have dreamed of the spadefish;
An echo murmured back the word, 'channel catfish!'; 
The brook trout smiled;
I felt compelled to sniff the squid;
Smells like fish;

It was squish;
Take thy bluegill from out my heart;

Embrace the wish;
Starfish





6/20/20
WRITTEN WORDS BY James Edward Lee Sr. 2020©

Once In a Lifetime

They're once in a lifetime
These moments of joy
The first time you rattle
That colourful new toy

Your first day at school
With the rest of the kids
Your hair all slicked down
Bad smells Mom got rid

The ultimate joy
Of your first tender kiss
The shock when she tells you
Her period she missed

A puff from a cigarette
Makes you dizzy and ill
The beer in the closet
I remember it still

The joy of our first child
The smell of their skin
The softness of touch
Their sweet tiny grin

Your first big promotion
The raise that you get
The first time you notice
A grey hair NO NOT YET!

Middle age quickly follows
With a sickening thud
It's all over now
Your life is pure crud

The sixties are next
And retirement awaits
Where did it go
You're in a hell of a state

Then someone says wryly
You've had a good life
'Whatcha crabbing bout?'
But it still cuts like a knife

These tender sweet moments
You experience through time
You'll remember them fondly
And treasure the climb 

Hold on to them tightly
They won't come again
They're once in a lifetime
They're to treasure my friends

Destiny

Fortunes and good luck is for spoiled brats rotten,
when you have Destiny crabbing you so tide by your bottom.
She stares in your eyes in dept with tickles of pain,
making you wondering, what is insane.
Her smile no more pretense of craft,
affectionate awakening sincerely laughed.
When conscious metaphors shriek in panic,
one get the sense of some happenstance dramatic.
My wits and psychopathic prayers searching for conclusion,
picturing the firmament already in doomed collusion.
Oh almighty preserver, save me from this destiny,
knowing that I am the weaver of my own legacy. 
The blues like lullaby inviting me into her blossom,
haunting echoes in subdued kind of awesome.
Moments become the slow motion silence,
still searching for those magical alliance.
By clarity of deep voice in me, I focus on my breathing,
remembering that creatures of shadows are deceiving.
The pain as metaphor of life is the survivor,
she looks at me with pleasure, that I am now a bit braver.

Rightful Gps

“turn right after the bend” said Lea from the GPS
that was easy to follow, I like this devise
“one mile ahead turn right onto ocean view drive”
I wish I had this years ago
“next right is gull’s landing, go ¼ mile to the end”
“you have reach your destination”.

what the heck!  I don’t want to be here. 
Lea you messed up with your directions
“you are where you asked to go”
I don’t want to watch gulls landing in the ocean
“Sir, I don’t know what happens at gull landing, 
but I took you where you requested”
the gulls are landing on my car and relieving themselves
‘Sir, I would expect that to happen at this address”

can you get me out of here now?
“where do you want to go”?
crab’s point   I told her
“turn around and  follow these directions.”
I now have crabs crawling all over my car
“I’m not at all surprised with an address like that”
 
Lea, I’m not all amused by your sense of humor
my car is a mess, I’d like to send you some place
“sir I sent you to your requests, I won’t accept your hostility”
‘you’ve been crabbing at me and now have the gull to be rude”
‘so you are where you should have been in the first place”

Wanderlust

Wanderlust welled
within my heart at early age
spirit smothered by small towns
and even smaller spaces
for my hopes, dreams, expectations

So I traveled far, searching
for a place with room to grow
never knowing, understanding
the “me” I longed to be
was already growing, all along
no matter where I went
or whether I stayed
or for how long...

'Til weary from my journey
I settled in a suburb
similar to the small towns
where I grew up
exhausted and
grateful to be “home”

But now I notice that
everyone here wishes
they were somewhere else

Old folks crabbing
about being too close
to the city- too much crime

Young folks crying
about being too far
from the city- nothing to look
forward to here

Miserable moping
year after year
wasting lives away with
wanderlust denied
when what they've been
desperately longing for
they already have inside

A Zulu Warrior

Do you sometimes see a Zulu Warrior
Staring back from the mirror in the morning!
A nasty fierce looking bad-tempered dude
Obscenities flying out without warning

Crabbing bout having to make a living
But enjoying all the many accouterments
If it wasn't for that, it'd be something else
People just love to complain and vent

A shower and shave, you're almost human
Not one person will ever suspect
That a member of the Zulu Warriors tribe
Was a coworker of great respect

Do you sometimes see a Zulu Warrior
Staring back from the mirror in the morning!

Summer Lacings

Summer’s seasoned lacings, all fetching,
uplift timid heartbeats with etchings.
Sunshine warmly touches me sky brushed.
Languid summer holds playtime sketching.

Touching water’s velvet soft richness,
sensuously tender in thickness,
captivates my deepest of senses.
Water must thrill summer as mistress.

Delight I hold when my garden shines
with produce sun thriving on green vines.
Sorrow stirs when garden grows dirt-dim
from Autumns push upon summer lines.

No coat, no sweater – summer bare feet –
dressing is a bit of style pieced sweet.
Summer freedom within her Eden
lifts my joy on high inside complete.

Horseshoes, croquet, hiking on park trails,
fishing, crabbing, grilling lobster tails -
all eases for adult stressed creases,
all pieces of summer’s bright details.

In summertime, I am a thrilled child
innocently day tripping beguiled
thru exciting treasures season swayed
until autumn shades persuade sun’s exile.




... CayCay Jennings
9-30-18

Once In a Lifetime

They're once in a lifetime
These moments of joy
The first time you rattle
That colorful new toy

Your first day at school
With the rest of the kids
Your hair all slicked down
Bad smells Mom got rid

The ultimate joy
Of your first tender kiss
The shock when she tells you
Her period she missed

A puff from a cigarette
Makes you dizzy and ill
The beer in the closet
I remember it still

The joy of a first child
The smell of their skin
The softness of touch
Their sweet tiny grin

Your first big promotion
The raise that you get
The first time you notice
A grey hair NO NOT YET!

Middle age quickly follows
With a sickening thud
It's all over now
Your life is pure crud

The sixties are next
And retirement awaits
Where did it go
You're in a hell of a state

Then someone says wryly
You've had a good life
'Whatcha crabbing about?'
But it still cuts like a knife

These tender sweet moments
You experience through time
You'll remember them fondly
And treasure the climb 

Hold on to them tightly
They won't come again
They're once in a lifetime
They're to treasure my friend

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