The female mates
only once
with her mid-
Atlantic blue.
That doesn't mean
this decapoda
can't survive
without him.
True, before
she's mature,
she's carried
under
the weight
of his shell,
russet pincers scratching
the surface
of the bay's
brackish floor
as she stores him
inside her
to spawn
over and over
alone
with her egg sac.
But
carnivore,
omnivore,
detritivore,
claws crack
clams
to support
a million minions
tucked tightly
to her carapace.
Once winter's
cold water comes,
she burrows
in the sand,
insulating herself,
isolating herself,
a scavenging
specimen
in the salty
estuary.
