Yadokari: Hermit Crab, Okinawa Poem by Eric Paul Shaffer

He borrows his house, as I borrow mine.
We are strangers where we live.

This little crab makes me think
I would crawl around the world with my belongings on my back,
drag my life behind me every day, to live
in the same world of open sand, empty shells, brilliant blue.

In hand, the hermit crab lives up to the name,
a shell closed with claws
but a warm breeze of breath will bring him out.

Set on the shore, he works a way through humps of white sand,
broken branches of coral, sun-bleached beer cans,
human footprints.

Life is kind. Move on. Carry what you can.