Blue Crabs by Glen Sorestad

She slowly swings her woven circular net
into the Gulf that sloshes against rock slabs
of the elongated jetty on Bolivar Peninsula.

We stood, attentive to this tiny Asian crone,
while she knotted, as her ancestors taught,
a chunk of raw chicken into the mesh.

Further along the jetty, her two greying sons
cast lines into the bay, fiberglass surf rods,
afternoon sun flashing on expensive reels.

Now, crab trap at rest in the watery murk,
she sits back, content, on her rock to wait,
to sense movement below the rising tide.

We, too, wait and watch, curious, imagine
her great-grandfather whispering in her ear
minute details of foraging food from the sea.

The old woman rises, grasps the rope, draws
her net to the surface. Aii-eee! A good one!
She flips a large blue crab into the bucket.

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Glen Sorestad is a well known Canadian poet from Saskatoon. he has published over twenty books of poems and his poetry has appeared in over sixty anthologies and textbooks. His poems have appeared in publications all over North America, in many other countries as well and have been translated into eight different languages.

Photo: DC Chef Anna