Dungeness Crabbing

Thena Westfall

the blue pack
my crow’s nest
to your mast of body
clad in hip waders
we sail 

trailing an aluminum wash tub
we scour depts of kelp
swaying like wheat with the currents
in search of monsters

you like Poseidon
with rubber-tipped pitchfork Trident
separate each crab from the bottom
cradled gently by hind legs
examine the under belly 

for the crescent moon of female
returned to the depths
or the obelisk of male
to make the measure
for passage in the wash tub

a feast of delicacy
we knew as normal
father and daughter
harvest safe harbor 

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Thena Westfall
Thena Westfall is a poet. She lives and works as a Registered Nurse in Port Angeles, WA. Her early life was centered on survival in raising her daughter, but she has written poems since she could hold a pen. She is just now pursuing publishing her work.