Frutti di Mare
>
> Station Pier is long, wide, and
> in the autumn morning sun
> almost empty - just one man
>
> (Mediterranean migrant, retired)
> stands angling. I look down
> into the water - it swarms
>
> with small writhing fish,
> none worth angling for, but -
> I guess there are bigger ones
>
> coming along to feed on these?
> and youıd hope to catch them?ı
> Oh, I could be here for five
>
> whole hours for nothing but quiet.
> Yesterday was just sunshine.
> At least no kids here today.
>
> Sometimes thereıs banjo shark,
> no good to eat, but some folk
> cut off just the tail. Gummy shark,
>
> now thatıs worth eating.ı
> How to tell them apart?
> I donıt get to ask. Heıs talking,
>
> pointing: weak heart, legs, itıs a short
> drive home from Station Pier.
> So I ask the internet...
>
> The fiddler rays or banjo sharks
> are a genus of guitarfish.ı
> Gummy: slender grey shark with white
>
> spots along the body and flat plate-likeı
> etc. And good eating, they all say.
This is where the migrant ships
docked in the fifties. Strange frutti
di mare to find here, landing hungry
amongst guitarfish and gummies.
Max Richards, Melbourne
