Tingerigheid

 “He was a bold man that first ate an oyster.”

—Swift

Our ancestors ate oysters on this shore

For eighty thousand years or more.

The food of the poor's become a flourish

Of the elite today—not meant to nourish.

I’d swallow them, if starving,  I SUPPOSE.

Our world’s grown topsy-turvy, Heaven knows!

To check out what I think, I write these lines:

I’m tingerig*—not bold enough for oyster-gulping times!

*Afrikaans: tender, fragile, frail, from Latin tener, “delicate,” Dutch, tenger.

Knysna, Western Cape, South Africa, Thursday, April 9, 2026