Writings in the Sand

Indignity

Opening random files in Google Docs can be interesting. One can view the version history and see how the writing changes and evolves. Then, I often edit and rewrite after I copy the item into my WDC book so that the original Docs version is different from the posted one. For instance, this poem started out being about our human sensibilities and how it was decided that lobster should no longer be on display in supermarkets in order to spare their feelings before we kill them, but the social/political angle was not the real story. The real story is the lobster's viewpoint:

Indignity

Mighty lobster waves ‘the crusher’
his fearsome, serrated claw
antennae twitching, mouth seeking
as he crawls over the confused masses.
Only the tape and the glass
prevent him from grasping
the tongues of young children
stuck out at him in disrespect.


I do think that it was the lobster-eating public that felt more guilt at watching their dinner being penned up in a tank than they did at boiling it alive that caused supermarkets to put the live lobster where they can't be seen. But this has robbed a whole generation of children of this up-close encounter with what my grandson calls "sea creatures". Humans are always doing things that they claim are good and charitable but in fact, only make them feel less guilty.

I don't like being stared at, it's true. It's a very uncomfortable experience. But I would prefer it to being boiled alive.