To a Lobster
A scorpion upon the cold sea floor
could not be worthy of my poetry.
But I will try to be meek and to pore
upon what you are, and not what I see.
For what I see, when I take time on you,
is nothing that I can honestly say
is virtue. But my solemn duty to
bring good news to you causes me to stay.
My first impression is not of disgust—
that comes after I’ve taken you all in.
That is not an opinion I can trust,
but one that has been molded by my kin.
God made the heart that likes at a first glance.
I’ll take that heart, and take its childlike chance.