Tanked
By: Charles Giuliano - Nov 04, 2021
Tanked
Seated in my walker
At Big Y
While Astrid shopped
I just stopped
Took a load off
Parked in front of the tank
Like an aquarium
That nobody bothers
To pause in front of
Just me it seemed
Pressed to the glass
A big one stared back
A pitiful gaze
Should I let it free
Keep as a pet
Teach it tricks
Go for long walks
Or perhaps swims
Take up scuba diving
Get to know its family
Soon for the pot
Observing last rites
Watery death row
Scurrying about
The big brutes
Crawling over mates
Some dead still
Resigned to their fate
No exit
Hell as other lobsters
Some head-to-head
One last joust
Dangerous claws
Bound by bands
Bright blue
Rendered harmless
Waiting for
Indifferent fishmonger
Slapped on scales
Sold by the pound
Soon to be scalded
Plunged head first
Flipping out
No reprieve
Last minute appeal
Magistrates and governors
Gruesome slaughter
Sounds from the pot
Lashing about
Fall on deaf ears
Served hot and steamy
Smashed and cracked
Slurped in butter
Slathered down the gullet
Briney deep
Davy Jones Locker
Jolly Roger
Scull and bones
Into our tummies
Oh so delicious
Paired with champagne
Crimson tide
Red as a cardinal
In scarlet robes
No prayers for the dead
Ritual burials
Chants and incense
Nothing like that
Like the live turtle
Brought to our table
Yellow River Road
Dinner in Shanghai
We passed on soup
Spared the poor creature
Too squeamish for us
Didn’t last the night
Doesn’t make it right
Though I will eat anything
That doesn’t eat me first
There are limits
That poor turtle
Was too darn cute
Which is more than
You can say
For a Big Y lobster