Crab or Seagull

 

Crab or Gull

In the swash zone
a desperate crab somehow overturned,
belly-up. Dome-backed, helpless,
she twitches feet and claws
grasping only air
as seagulls gather, smacking lips.

Shall I intervene?
Who do I favor, crab or gull?
Frankly I have problems with both personalities.

Can’t ignore a creature in distress.
(Who programmed that?)
Wiggle my toes into damp sand
beneath the beast. Flip.

With nary an acknowledgement, crab scuttles
sideways to a spot in the wave wash
where in a flutter of little legs
she half-buries herself, eyeballs above.
Seagulls scream curses.

What did I expect, a thank you?

…..

From my book Foggy Dog
First published in Your Daily Poem—thank you editor Jayne Jaudon Ferrer