30 January 2012, Port of San Francisco
In the shadows of commerce
a man hoists a tethered cage until
it clears the ferry terminus rail
Stabbing at a meaty blue claw he
snares the crab by its swimming leg
to yank it dangling from the trap
A seagull with one good eye left
sidles like a streetwise poacher
but the industrious man is resolute
He flings the catch into a mayonnaise
bucket in his shopping cart before
departing to an undisclosed location
Where a once-celebrated chef
hunches over a restaurant grade
jalapeno can on a makeshift grill
The can slowly bubbles up heat
and the industrious man
is poised to boil the crab