A Thesis on the Plumpness of Oysters

1.1

Ostreola Saccostrea
Edulis virginica,
Cassostrea conchaphila
Glomerata gigas.

1.2

Ostrea
Tiostrea
Ostreida
Pteriidae. (i)

2.1

rock sliced tide
creams the salted sorrows
of drowned men.

2.2

drip feed the juicy
sea past crusted shell,
elixir of Venus. (ii)

2.3

pearls are
the cry of
distant cousins.


3.1

the best ones are found
by ribboned sole
and flagellation of rock.

3.2

those missing coastline
may also drive
to a restaurant
with white tablecloths. (iii)

4.1

it is not enough
for the knife to be sharp,
the blade to be whet. One must also
have a dry mouth
from all that salivation.

4.2

it is said
the best ones
are still squirming
as they slide.

4.3

salt stomach
slipped sideways
on the tongue.
At last
the gush
of sweet wetness
between teeth.


Footnotes

i. Tiostrea lutaria, the fairest of them all.
ii. Strictly, oysters are not drip fed. They are filter feeders, sifting out nutrients from sediment and stabilising coastal ecosystems.
iii. Small outback pubs in the middle of the desert do not, generally, have the best oysters.