Hermit Crab Poems

List of New Poems

PM	Poem Title	Poet	Form	Form	Categories
	Separate bedrooms haiku	Charlie Knowlton	Haiku	Haiku	hermit crab, break up, love, marriage,
	Ship-wretched	Terry Flood	Rhyme	Rhyme	hermit crab, beach, food, sea,
	Happy Heaven Hermit	charles messina	Rhyme	Rhyme	hermit crab, inspirational love,
	Ballad of a Hermit Crab	Derek Chos	Prose	Prose	hermit crab, depression,
	Hermit Crab	John Anderson	Haiku	Haiku	hermit crab, nature, ocean,
	So it goes-homeward bound	kathy tauber	Prose Poetry	Prose Poetry	hermit crab, absence, introspection,
	Sand Dollar Dreams	Heather Ober	Haibun	Haibun	hermit crab, memory, nature,
	Hermit crab	David Brown	Couplet	Couplet	hermit crab, dark, metaphor,
	who am i	peter hoopert	Rhyme	Rhyme	hermit crab, lost, missing,
	sands	liam mcdaid	Free verse	Free verse	hermit crab, ocean, romance, romantic, sea,
	Who Buys,Who Sells	suleimon bamidele BALOGUN	Dramatic monologue	Dramatic monologue	hermit crab, places
	.~69~. /Zodiac.Race/	Nate D.	Limerick	Limerick	hermit crab, girlfriend-boyfriend
	Mr. Crab and Mr. Anemone	Beau Regard	Narrative	Narrative	hermit crab, animals, children, funny, seame,
	Rex the Hermit Crab	Caryl Muzzey	Limerick	Limerick	hermit crab, sea
	Rummage Failure	Andrew Gallagher	Free verse	Free verse	hermit crab, lost love, lovegreen,
	Hermit Crab	Danielle White	Quatrain	Quatrain	hermit crab, allegory, animals, sea, ocean,
	Hermit Crab	romeo naces	Senryu	Senryu	hermit crab, animals, funny, nature,

Hermit Crab Poem Example

Sand Dollar Dreams

It's quiet here - quiet in a way that catches me off guard. The tranquility is almost tangible, something I can touch and hold and wrap around myself. I can hear the pulse of faraway waves, the faint hum of the wind, the nonsensical call of distant seagulls. I can hear my own heartbeat, pounding along with the waves. 

As I kick off my sandals, my spirit steps out of my body, leaving behind the material baggage of city life. The sand is soggy beneath my feet and I know my footprints will disappear when the sea rises, as if I were never here at all. 

It's low tide, that magical time when the sea recedes to reveal the ocean floor. Grooves of sand catch pockets of water that are half-buried mirrors, reflecting pale blue sky and slices of violet sunlight that glitter like chipped diamond. 


a vocal seagull 
descends toward liquid skies –
reflections ripple

At low tide, a second beach emerges, stretching all the way across the bay to the opposite shore. I walk slowly, tasting salt on the breeze as it runs invisible fingers through my hair. Strands sweep across my face, catching in my eyelashes before fluttering free once more.

The beach is a dream catcher, snagging small treasures when the sea withdraws. And I am a child again, fascinated by the hermit crab retreating into his shell as I approach. I spot the dimpled surface of an urchin’s shell peeking out from wrinkled sand. Other shells are scattered across the beach, some upside down, exposing smooth, pearly souls.


a tiny starfish 
drifts beneath placid water –
lost constellation

When I find a sand dollar, my breath catches. It’s perfectly whole, with smooth, rounded edges and clean, ivory skin. It’s heavy and light all at once, the flawless design at its center subtle and brilliant, like a delicate floral tattoo. How many hours had I spent here as a child, searching for this transitory coin? 

My eyes fill with unexpected tears as my vision wavers behind distorted pools of grief. I’m half-blind until I blink, releasing salty rivers down my cheeks. Even then, my sight is murky.

My tears taste like the ocean and I think, suddenly: Whose tears fill the sea?



Written: November 4, 2015
For Charlotte's "Creative Haibuns" Contest

Poem Copyright © Heather Ober