Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Grapsus Grapsus Omnimobilis


                     “They seem to be able to run in any of four directions;
                     but more than this, perhaps because of their rapid
                     reaction time, they appear to read the mind of their hunter.”

                                                                                     John Steinbeck

On the piddock-pocked gray rocks at low tide
they scamper in sunlight, poking into every pool.

The young ones are black-lacquered, with only pincers pink.

They vibrate with electric energy, like solar panels
in motion, glinting with voracious purpose,
moving instantaneously in all directions—sideways, forward, back.

Their game is algae.

Have you ever seen a red rock crab jump?

They approach the abyss all eyes,
halt a microsecond and from tiptoes of eight legs
execute un grand jeté like four prima ballerinas
flying through the air under a single carapace of silken bronze--

en avant
à la seconde
en arriére
en tournant...

They seem a crowd of discoboloi by Myron,
launching themselves and rising up to launch again in one throw.

Give them a few more eons and they will be birds.

Is it featherbrained to wonder how to read the flying mind
of a creature so spontaneously omnidirectional and sighted
it is reading your mind long before you yourself notice?

E. A. Costa


Grapsus Grapsus Omnimobilis

                                   "Parecen poder correr en cualquiera de cuatro
                                    direcciones;  pero más que esto, quizás debido
                                    a su tiempo de reacción rápido, ellos aparecen
                                    leer la mente de su cazador.”

                                                                                    John Steinbeck

En la marea baja
sobre las rocas grises
picadas por los barrenos
ellos corretean en la luz del sol,
hurgando en cada charca.

Los jóvenes son laqueados en negro,
con pinzas rosadas.

Ellos vibran con la energía eléctrica,
como paneles solares móviles, destellando con motivo voraz,
y moviendo en cada dirección-- hacia de lado, hacia adelante, hacia atrás...

Su presa es algas.

¿Alguna vez has visto un cangrejo de roca rojo saltar?

Se acercan al abismo todo ojos,
paran por un microsegundo
y de puntillas con ocho piernas
ejecutan un grand jeté magnífico,
como cuatro primeras bailarinas 
que vuelan por el aire bajo un carapacho de seda bronceada--

en avant
                à la seconde
                                      en arriére
                                                        en tournant...

Parecen ser una muchedumbre de discóbolos de Mirón,
lanzándose y elevándose para lanzar en un tiro.

¡Dales unas eras más y serán pájaros!

¿Es disparatado preguntarse cómo sea posible leer 
la mente volante
de una criatura tan espontáneamente omnidireccional y tan vidente
que ella lee tu mente antes de que la sepas tú mismo?

Tr. EAC

E. A. Costa      August 31, 2016     San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua  ______________________________________________________

NB: (1) Grapsus Grapsus: the red rock crab, native to the Pacific Coast
from Southern California to Chile and rife on the beach rocks of Nicaragua,
providing to the patient eye much instruction and entertainment. “Grapsus”
is a Latinized form of the Greek “grapsaios” (crab). Also known in English
as Sally Lightfoot, in Spanish as the zayapa (Galápagos) and abuete negro.
The quotation from John Steinbeck is from The Log From The Sea Of Cortez,
an account of an expedition with his friend, the marine biologist Ed Ricketts.
It is curious Steinbeck mentions only four directions. Had he never seen them
jump? Which jumping adds two more. (2) Piddocks, or Pholadidae, are
bivalves that bore through rock and are responsible for the many round holes
in beach rock. In Spanish they are known as barrenos, to wit, “drills” or 
“boreholes”; (3) On Myron's Discobolos or Discus Thrower, who throws
and returns to throwing in one aesthetic moment, see Lucian of Samosata,
Philopseudes sive Incredulus (the Liar), 18; (4) “Omnimobile” is now an
accepted word in robotics, applied to movement of devices on universal
wheels, for example; (5) Crabs of course have five pairs of legs but one
pair are pincers.

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