Not to Taste

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We spend so much of our time choosing, discussing, cooking or devouring food that we consider to be flavorful, but rarely do we consider just how flavorful we ourselves may be.

Not to Taste

I have no taste for seafood—neither sea bass nor crustacean.
My friends’ attempts to feed them to me end in their frustration.
I cannot stand the taste of them—their odor nor their texture.
I’ve heard that they are good for me, so please spare me the lecture!

When I was in New Orleans, they tried to feed me gator.
I politely turned it down and had a burger later.
For though a gator’s not a fish, and that’s something I know,
they must be family somehow, ‘cause both live in H2O!

Sometimes I go out birding up a river by the sea.
The grandson of the captain comes along to talk to me.
The river’s full of crocodiles, and birds overhead
fly in by the thousands to seek their evening bed.

They rest so gently in the trees that I forget the threat
of all those crocs there down below, lurking in the wet.
Most of the year the estuary’s cut off from the sea,
but this year there was one big rain that set the river free.

When I was swimming Saturday, beyond the surf, just me,
I saw some people looking at—whatever could it be?
I just went on exercising in the surf and sand.
The sun went down but I stayed out. The water was just grand.

But when I finally came to land, folks there on the beach
told me that a croc passed by, well beyond my reach.
And since I, too, was out there as handy as could be,
I sure am glad that crocodile had no taste for me!!!!

Today’s prompt word is flavorful. This poem found in my archives was written so long ago that I had forgotten it.  Hopefully, you have, too. The beautiful photo of ceviche was snapped in La Manzanilla, as was the photo of the croc. The event described in the poem was true, by the way. Since then I’ve instructed friends to call me in out of the water no matter how far away the croc is!

20 thoughts on “Not to Taste”

  2. Christine Goodnough

    You’re a prairie girl like me. We don’t eat SEAFOOD. (Actually a lot of prairie folks do eat shrimp by now. They’ve been corrupted. 🙂 )
    Good thing that gator had no taste for you! What a thing to discover once you were out of the water! But maybe he wasn’t very adventurous far in the salty sea? They’re fresh water creatures, I think.
    A lady in Houston posted a picture of a little one found in a driveway up the street from her apt building — he went with the flow of Harvey, I gather. Nothing like a little novelty to show your friends on Facebook. 🙂
    I posted my response to your question a couple of days ago, a nice long one explaining family semantics, but your blog was inaccessible for awhile. I’ll go back and check it it got through finally.

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    1. lifelessons Post author

      I noticed a number of people remarking that all of the people following them had lost their links. I noticed yesterday I didn’t have one comment, so wondered if that was true for me as well.

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    3. lifelessons Post author

      Yes.. our stock dams were the only source of water and the fish tasted muddy. There was a muddy/sandy river 23 miles away, but I don’t remember my dad bringing many fish home. When he did, my mother squished each of our bites between her fingers checking for bones, so I never developed much of a taste (any taste) for fish. I did eat breaded shrimp with lots of red chili sauce.

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  3. Marilyn Armstrong

    I tried alligator in New Orleans. It did NOT taste like chicken. I have decided to never eat anything that might otherwise eat me.

    My son won’t eat seafood. Never has. He also won’t eat beets, mushrooms, or eggplant. He says beets and mushrooms taste like dirt. I guess they do, a bit. As for the eggplant, hates the texture.

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  5. hirundine608

    Remi, I will not eat warm-blooded mammals and I decline dead birds also. I will occasionally eat seafoods, like dried, fresh or frozen fish. Even so, with the amount of radiation flooding the Pacific. That has dropped off, for me. Consuming shellfish always runs the risk of contamination, like red tide, etc. I eat eggs but never warm-blooded mammals. Seems too close to eating dead babies, for my liking. Cheers Jamie

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    2. lifelessons Post author

      Hmm. I hadn’t thought of the bets angle. I was actually a bit (a lot) put out that they didn’t tell me. I keep a close eye out now. This year it was sting rays. Three people stung on my beach, one in front of my house. I was helping to take care of him for an hour, running hot water out for him to soak his foot in. After that I didn’t go in the water for awhile.

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  10. lifelessons Post author

    Yes.. I try to do that, but when I am in the water, I’m always doing aerobic exercises so my feet are on the ground. Hopefully all the activity keeps them away once I’m in place.

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