Deep in a volcanic sea cave
crimson crabs hang from the ceiling
scuttle along walls, clattering pincers
gather in their hundreds
in affront
as our boat noses in,
engine stilled.
We have raced across open ocean
slamming over waves
to be claustrophobically enclosed
looked down upon by crustaceans
never before have I felt
such an visitor to my own planet
insignificant in the face of the whale and the dolphin
and now these outraged crabs.
Copyright © 2018 Kim Whysall-Hammond
Linked to the Earthweal Challenge “The Animal Gaze” :
The Cheesesellers Wife 
Sounds like a really interesting place.
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A sea cave on the coast of Faial, an island in the Azores. The archipelago is full of fascinating places.
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Very nice… miss your artwork. Something for this would have fit the bill, doncha’ think? Cheers Jamie
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Aah…but the photo is from that boat trip and taken by my son….
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Reblogged this on The Militant Negro™.
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You’re in their territory now, and you look alien to them. What a discovery of self.
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Yes!
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Thanks for including an altogether different gaze with this! I wonder how the poetry crosses a threshold, written in THEIR world. Nice work. – Brendan
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An Azorean birdwatcher told me that seabirds footprints in the sand were their poetry…..
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Yes. I have felt this, entering the world of the whales, looking into their ancient eyes, smelling their whale-breath that smells like the ocean floor must smell. I love the idea of those crabs scuttling about, hanging from the ceiling, being so busy – so CRAB-like – while we, above and oblivious, think our lives are all that is going on. You have captured this so well.
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Dolphin breath is surprisingly fragrant compared to whales..
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I love the way you lit up that volcanic sea cave with crimson crabs, Kim, and created their sounds with alliterative, onomatopoeic verbs in ‘scuttle along walls, clattering pincers’ – a warning. I can understand you feeling like a visitor to your own planet.
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Thanks Kim. The crabs just appeared out of cracks in the rock en masse.
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It’s amazing what can move us. Lovely poem.
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Thank you
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I would love to visit such a place and be caught in that crustacean gaze…
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It was at Faial Island in the Azores. I plan to return!
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I’ll mark that on my ‘would like to visit’ map…
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:)
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Wonderful! It’s amazing how the smallest of animals can bring us undone sometimes.
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Yes indeed
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What an amazing adventure!
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I love this as we are taken deep into the lives of smaller creatures within the sea with ancient histories. Quite an extraordinary description and seascape.
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Thank you.
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Wow, that a great photo – I have never seen a whale in the wild but, I have had encounters with dolphins. I am sure the cave would be filled with wonderment.
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Thanks – the photo was taken in the Azores (which is where the poem is set) by my youngest son who was 12 at the time. We have been lucky enough to see Sei and Sperm whales, and several species of dolphins –all in the Azores, over several trips.
The cave was marvellous and I tried to capture some of that.
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