Oyster

Cherry

By onemorething

Sun, 09 May 2021
  • 868 reads
4 comments
 

Our hearts are smaller

than the organs needed 

for thought and digestion,

an oyster, too, is dominated 

by a procession of water.

Drunk on brine, across gills,

the rhythm of cilia, flow, ripples

of frills, lost in its own private magic.

But prised, hinge broken, 

valves parted, the germ

of possibility, yet its fat flesh

will wake the ocean

so much more than any pearl. 

Oysters are spawned

in bursts of stardust,

a battle for convergence,

the dwindling chances 

of survival, even beneath 

a carapace of stone;

it is not erotic, this flavour

of love, or its absence,

it knots the words upon my tongue.

 

 

Image is from here: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oyster_anatomy.jpg

On Twitter: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_young_girl_is_selling_oysters_to_a_customer_in_the_street._Wellcome_V0039690.jpg

Certificate U
Poem
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Comments

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Hi Rachel, 

oysters are spawned 

in bursts of stardust,

a battle for convergence,

the dwindling chances 

of survival, even beneath

a carapace of stone;

it is not erotic, this flavour

of love, or its absence,

it knots the world upon my tongue.

These lines stood out for me, they suggested that there's more to the oyster than just a pearl, or food for the art of lovers.

That there needs to be thousands spawned in order to survive. It must be so demanding surviving in such treacherous conditions, but I like how you say they're spawned in burst of stardust, which says to me that they're life is based on pure fate.

As usual this is just my sense of your poem and maybe completely off track, but I did find it fascinating to read.

Jenny. 

 

Submitted by onemorething on

Hi Jenny, no, you're quite right, I was trying to show how hard it is to survive, even become an oyster. They have to release giant plumes of spawn, then they have to meet and fertilise (though one speciesself-fertilise), if they manage this, then they need to survive as a spat, grow a foot and find somewhere suitable to latch on to. And then it has to survive being eaten by predators like starfish. To survive is remarkable in its own way. Thanks for reading it. :)

 

Submitted by marandina on

"spawned in bursts of stardust" Wonderful stuff about a creature I know little about

 

Submitted by onemorething on

Thanks! They are very interesting, ancient beasts. Thanks for reading it. :)