The Man and the Mermaid

Hidden away behind the seasons spirits and
false faces;
behind the heartbreaking morals we adopt;
and between this world and the next,
they lie down in their
diamond, secret cove.
She collapses in his arms against the
cold rock, which protects them.

He walks through a stranger’s forest,
a melodic breaking of twigs in his step.
Silver giants wave over him,
their minted leaves allow the moon to pass through,
shine it’s vividity
into his green eyes,
in his feverish search for her.
The owls immerge, and
Hedgehogs surface into their night,
ignorant witnesses.
He breaks past the barren barrier
separating their hearts;
the golden absent promise
slips off his finger –
the waves collide against the shore.

She has arisen.
And she is waiting. Their
white, miraculous basin
floats above her,
connecting them eternally,
if only by the stars.
Wherever the moon touches him,
it touches her.
She writhes to the crusty shore,
struggling against Poseidon’s foul mood;
his hate drags her back,
her love compels her forward,
to him.
Orange-eyed fish judge her,
think her rotten,
nothing above them.
But she is.
Her heart is not sunk to the
depths of the ocean,
turned blue from time and lack of sunlight;
oh no, it beats loudly;
it moves the waves to crash.

They reach the cove alone,
in the safety of darkness…
It’s been so long.
He elevates her from her
watery prison and
holds her. Just holds her.
Her rubber skin feels numb against his;
so warm.
Their hearts move together as one.
She sees the familiarity in his smile,
she feels at home in his embrace.

Slowly, but perfectly,
time passes.
The moon sets sail to uncover a
marine blue day,
their cove grows warm in the
orange, inexperienced sun,
gently awaking
a man and his girl.
His girl.
Soft kisses before the winds of
time and impossibility
tear them apart.

She is sucked through
a water whirlwind
(from his arms)
to cry pity back into her lonely realm.

He vanishes just as she calls for him,
a whole eternity
and its forever
separates them over,
trapped behind the forests bars once more,
the band on his finger a manacle,
cruelly replaced.

The moon betrays them in the
Sun’s overpowering shadow;
alone again,
alone.
He looks out to the never-ending sea,
gazes out
under all it’s secrets,
beyond all its beings,
in hopes to see the face of the
beautiful creature
who held captive his heart
beneath the waves,
and her breast.