The One-In-30 Million Lobster Gets To Live

In April 2021, a calico lobster was found in a Red Lobster restaurant in Virginia. Calico lobsters are extremely rare, as only about one in 30 million lobsters are born with this coloration. The lobster, named Freckles, was spared and donated to the Virginia Living Museum.

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The One-In-30 Million Lobster Gets to Live

Little one,

Did they tell you that you’ve been gifted

Joseph’s Technicolor Dreamcoat?

When they lifted you from the tank, did you

believe yourself to be riding in the palms of God?

Ascending into the fluorescent heaven?

Discovering that Nirvana was a place with

wood paneling and textured booths?

Did you imagine the others applauding you

from the water (if bound claws could clap).

You, who were chosen by Pharaoh himself.

You, with nothing but dreams to guide you.

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Or,

after watching your featureless tank empty -

did you realize the fate of those who left?

There, in the pit of despair (Red Lobster),

could you have imagined that

your destiny would be different?

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Little one,

Look at your coat of many colors.

In the ocean, predators could simply

pluck you out of your camouflage.

But now this folly shall be your salvation.

You’ll trade out one cage for another

and say, “Any dream will do.”

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Sources: To read more about Freckles the Lobster, check out the following news article. To learn more about the Virginia Living Museum (and to support their education and conservation efforts), click here.

Note: This poem references the musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, created by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber.