Crabbing at Nehalem Bay: a virelai After “Douce Dame Jolie” by Guillaume de Machaut My will is that your claw should grab This cat food, that your mind should stab Its doubts and urge you, like its lab Rat, into trying something new. The tide is closing out my tab… I swab The weather’s face and ocean’s too. I fill my boat with air and flab To nab Some pride and dinner for my boo. I’m frightened not when shorelines blab; I see the semi-love Les Schwab Half-buried under sand. My cab Is fate; we’re not just driving through! My will is that your claw should grab This cat food, that your mind should stab Its doubts and urge you, like its lab Rat, into trying something new. The seagulls here all do the dab. Ahab I’m not, but niveous visions do Call me away from any slab A schlub Could stand on; courage isn’t blue. The clam beds sleep beneath Queen Mab Despite my screams when every ab I catch is slightly rounded. Drab My engine’s soul and instinct’s clue. My will is that your claw should grab This cat food, that your mind should stab Its doubts and urge you, like its lab Rat, into trying something new. Off Hwy 101 facts jab Prefab Experiences; they don’t come true Because the gift of every crab Is gab: They rival Athens in a coup! But south of Wheeler, night’s hijab Is not on yet. My buoys scab The waters so that Dr. Krabbe, If he was here, would say, “Achoo!” My will is that your claw should grab This cat food, that your mind should stab Its doubts and urge you, like its lab Rat, into trying something new.
About the Author: Jake Sheff is a pediatrician and US Air Force veteran. He’s published a full-length collection of formal poetry, “A Kiss to Betray the Universe” (White Violet Press), along with two chapbooks: “Looting Versailles” (Alabaster Leaves Publishing) and “The Rites of Tires” (SurVision).
Image Credit: Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der Deutschen Tiefsee-Expedition auf dem Dampfer “Valdivia” 1898-1899. bd.6. Atlas Jena,G. Fischer,1902-40. Public domain image courtesy of the Biodiversity Heritage Library.
As It Ought To Be 