Tangier Samadhi

Golden crabs of Tangier
float in bubbles of gold
above the golf carts on their single tongue of road.

Their claws are castanets!
Their voices fire!
Dancing over backyard graves of fishermen
lost in the rocking bay.

Impenetrable, wisdom-diamond-eyed,
gods of the Chesapeake,
up in your Chinese clouds—
HELLO!!


Hugh Moore

(Established in 1686, Tangier Island was discovered by Captain John Smith.  It is three miles long and one mile wide and lies off the coast of Virginia.)