| For the holiday season this year, I wanted to share my “Christmas Crab” poem, in hopes of bringing a little joy to the world with these beautiful, colorful crabs! Though this year has been grim, there is still much in the world to celebrate, such as Christmas Crabs performing their mating rituals uninterrupted. I look forward to a time when we humans can get back on track. I wish you all peace and pray for a better year in 2021! The Red Crabs of Christmas Island From the forest, males are sprawling. Over craggy cliffs, they’re crawling, scuttling toward the sea. Into sandy shores, they furrow, digging a protective burrow, near the sounding sea. Now the frantic females hurry. To the waiting males they scurry, skittering toward the sea. Eggs are laid where water’s creeping. Waves come closer, sweeping, sweeping egg sacs out to sea. Baby crabs, born in the ocean, synchronize their sideways motion. Millions leave the seas, and head back to the trees. published in The National Geographic Book of Nature Poetry, 2015, ed. J. Patrick Lewis |
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