SEASIDE ENCOUNTER

At low tide, yesterday, I found

a village on a rock.

The houses were quite small and round,

and white as thickening fog.

 

"Hello, hello, is someone there?"

I asked the nearest hut,

but not a head rose anywhere,

and all the doors stayed shut.

 

"None will come out while it is dry.

They are a funny lot,"

exclaimed a crab who crouched nearby.

"Their habits are quite odd."

 

"If you will follow me I'll show

you some that are submerged.

They spend life upside down, you know."

"Please, lead the way," I urged.

 

Ten barnacles waved twenty feet

as we approached their pool.

I guessed it was the way they greet,

but Crab called me a fool.

 

"It's what they do to catch their food,

meals that the current brings.

Oh, look, there are some of their brood -

the tiny, see-through things."

 

"They swim until they wish to stick

somewhere and build their cone.

A pretty awesome, nifty trick

and skill set, won't you own?"

 

"I do," one barna-baby said,

and her feet did wiggle.

Home will be where I glue my head."

Oh, that made me giggle.

 

"One of my uncles clung unto

a big right whale's left side,

and travelled to Honolulu.

I'd fancy such a ride."

 

We talked a lot till I returned

to where my bike was parked,

thinking about what I had learned

and what Crab had remarked.

 

"Don't look to distant galaxies

for creatures that astound.

A dip in any of earth's seas

will proof they do abound."

 

"They all have purpose - they all thrive.

Isn't that great to see?"

So many different forms of life,

so much variety."

 

While I wholeheartedly embrace

Crab's wise philosophy,

I will refuse to trade my place

with anyone but me.

 

My head is high - my feet are low,

(none of them adhesive).

They take me where I choose to go,

that's how I like to live.