Saw it once at the bar when
Drunk he forgot where he was
And gesticulated wildly like a crab
We all saw it, no doubt about it
Only what was a fisherman doing
With a claw where his hand should be?
Asked around town as a stranger
And got the same slacked jawed no-answer
You aint from around here are ya?
No and neither is this freak, I said
But I was wrong, dead crab wrong -
Jake had been a crab-fisher see
And not no ordinary crab-fisher
But a goddam certifiable genius
Cos it was said he could talk to 'em
Not like ordinary people talk to animals
But he could call them into the traps
Only there was a catch
His power came from his promise
Made to the crab king
To marry the crab princess
On forfeit of his right hand
He had reaped the benefits of the sea
And when it came time to wed his
Shell fitted bride he swayed on the jetty
Human matched with Crab not so pretty
So he jumped hoping the sea would intervene
But no, he was spat back to land
Half drowned, half dead
A claw instead of his right hand.
© shaun patrick green 2012
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