Mermaid

19.05.09

She was drowning, they thought, with no beacon or guide
While she struggled to set herself free,
Thrashing ’mid waves of a lunatic tide
In a sea of insanity.

So they hoisted her out, all spluttering and dazed,
And thumped her and dried her and wrapped;
Did all they thought best but were sadly amazed
As her energy slowly was sapped.

“Have you swallowed a fancy too many?” they asked,
“Did we come to your rescue too late?
Or when on enchanted isles you basked
Too mildly your madness berate?”

No lungs she had to breathe as all men,
To walk amidst mortals no feet;
Her sad eyes half-smiled at her saviours and then
She whispered these words bitter-sweet:

“In a lake of mysterious stars I twirled
Where shimmering laughter teems,
Murmuring over the rim of the world
In a twinkling tumble of dreams.

The breath of life from my bosom you snatched,
My happiness could you not spare?
Breathless with bliss and passions unmatched,
I was gasping for joy – not air.”