Carrier Shell

Benthos, sea depths,

I mistook it for the word,

Bashert, meaning destiny

Snail shell,

Turreted and flared,

Bearer of foreigners

And guests,

Treads ocean floor,

Scavenges pelagic debris,

Lifts prize with proboscis,

Determines arrangement

Atop its pallid dome,

Adheres coral stalk

With in-house glue.

Snail mortars auger shells

Around its calcite rim,

And pastes eroded whelk

So exposed spiral is seen

All beings carry,

A woman carries her child,

Balances jug on head,

Layers firewood 'cross her spine,

Swans convey cygnets 

On opaline backs,

Ants tote leaf slivers

In a line,

Boy with empty hands

Seeks goods to carry,

A father collects refuse,

Pulls cart of boards

Sorted like a library

What did it mean

When the lame man

Carried his bed?

It meant he was awakened

What did it mean

When Samaritan carried victim

From road to the inn?

It meant they were connected

What does it mean

To carry water

To someone who thirsts?

It means you are transforming

The carrier shell

Spots aluminum pull-tab

On seabed,

Sticks metal piece

Like a cantilevered wing,

To slope of its

Calcareous roof,

Each inclusion extends,

As if on a tinker's cart

Of memory

All beings carry,

The mother with her babe,

And the earth,

She carries everything

Traveling in whorls

Laura Stickney 2022

Notes:

benthos--The bottom of the sea. Organisms living on sea bottoms.

bashert--Yiddish word meaning destiny.

pelagic--Of, pertaining to, or living in open oceans.

proboscis--A long, flexible snout.

pallid--Referring to type of snail and its whitish color.

whelk--Pointed shells.

cygnets--Baby swans.

cantilevered--A projecting beam supported only at one end.

calcareous--Composed of calcium

tinker's cart--Wagon of traveling seller and mender of items.

photograph of Carrier Shell by Laura Stickney