The day broke…
On shore a mist was gently lifting;
A morning breeze just pushed it by
The brightening twilight was slowly shifting
When something caught his sleepy eye
There was something…
The seaweed appeared to be in trouble
He felt a fear hard to explain
He saw a ripple begin to bubble
And suddenly grow calm again
Then he saw…
She came out of the water dripping
Sat in silence upon the rocks
While the infant sun was peeping
Shook gently dry her auburn locks
He watched her…
Brush from her arms water that lingered
Wiggle dry her scaly tail fin
Comb her ringlets with her fingers
And caress her smooth, glowing skin
He stood still…
She started singing in a mournful wail
Bending to gaze at her reflection
Splintered it with a swipe of tail
Self-indulgence her predilection
She noticed him…
With eager hand she smiled and beckoned,
Nodded and gestured like a child
She was calling him to her, he reckoned
He stood his ground, though beguiled
He called out…
“Pretty mermaid, what’s the matter?
You’re sometimes playful, sometimes low
Do you miss the play and chatter
When your undersea friends run to and fro?”
She was listening…
“Or the lusty mermen who whistle and gape
Try to kiss you on the ocean floor
From whom on your sea horse you escape
To uncharted caves you go explore?”
He stepped closer…
“The rusty shipwrecks that you see
Treasure chests would you like to keep
Souls of dead sailors, set them free
From the bottom of the ocean deep?“
She looked alarmed…
“I won’t harm you, I would not dare
I envy you your life in many ways
You splash in the shallows with not a care
You bask in the sunlight’s golden rays”
She smiled shyly…
“When the day is over the dolphins sing
And the sun sets fire to the flying fish
The starfish and the stingray bring
In oyster shells the gifts you wish“
Her eyes were…
The colours and tempers of the ocean
In a flash, she slithered and fled
Disappeared in fluid motion
Was it something that he’d said?
He wonders if…
She still roams free beneath the waves
Her spirit alive amidst the spray
Exploring deep mysterious caves
Sings hauntingly the night away…
