Hannah Whiteman
Poetry
“Set in Maryland” Contest Winner
Hannah Whiteman received her MFA from the University of Florida. She lives in Washington, D.C., where she teaches English.
Callinectes Sapidus
— a love poem
Beautiful swimmer. Such grace in the name
of a bottom-floor scuttler, paddle-legged flailer
whose apron I crack like a book spine to read
the little meat inside. I understand beauty late:
how females mate only once. Molting, the male
carries her in sapphire-tinged claws into the sea,
guards her as she sheds all skin. After, he holds
her body—hardening—until she can travel safely.
Up the Chesapeake, she carries millions of eggs
alone to release; watches the last of those loved
swim away beautifully. Months and months ago
you carry me into a restless Atlantic; hold me
tenderly in the face of an unbroken horizon only
to swim—strong—to shore. I watch, hardening.
“ Callinectes Sapidus: Taxonomic name of the Chesapeake Blue Crab. From the Greek calli- (beautiful) and nectes (swimmer), and the Latin sapidus (savory).
My interest in Chesapeake blue crabs began with the distinctive sapphire color of the male’s claw. In research, I stumbled upon its protective function in the mating ritual. The mating process is at once brief, strangely intimate, and strikingly beautiful. It seemed to mirror our own relationships: our capacity for love and tenderness and (despite our best efforts) the inevitability of loneliness. ”