An oyster is a polished apple, a lyrical topcoat
amidst a flat rock barrel of sweat,
salt and flesh. It is a peninsula,
a panhandle, a wing,
a tuxedo in the sand-
cultivated in human history
to satisfy our ravenous appetites.
We should all bow and take note;
oysters are fresh flesh gulf beasts:
pry, slurp, swallow –
hold oysters to the sky!
Perhaps that was the plan of the gods
from the first little oyster-suckling,
salt-licking tongue princess.