This is for Sad Sara, whose poetics I find strangely compelling.
Rhyme of the Mermaid
The lighthouse keeper and his son, one day
Were out on the rocks, by a blue-water bay
As the sea, their bare feet was laving,
They saw a mermaid, they first thought was bathing;
With long dark hair and eyes of green;
Like the mist of a loch, that sings.
She was struggling and sick, in the foamy sea
So they took her to the lighthouse, above the lea.
She begged and pleaded, to die in the sea;
But there in the lighthouse, she seemed fated to be.
A clawfoot bathtub became her home,
And there she stayed, never to roam.
Some children taught her some words and rhymes.
To help her to pass all the weary time.
The lighthouse keeper thought she was his own,
Though from the sea, she was merely loaned.
Sometimes a midnight, would find him there
Combing her damp and tangled hair.
In her long confinement, he was the one
Kept her sane, since she could not run.
They had long discussions until daybreak,
Entirely by looks and gestures they'd make;
She taught him secrets no man had ever heard;
How she could still the sea, with inaudible word
And how she could tell by the look of the moon
If spring would come early, or winter too soon.
And how the waves, did murmur below
If the weather be rough, or the hard winds blow.
How she'd loved and lost one merman that
Had gotten too close, to a fisherman's net.
They'd had a child, by the madman's reef;
Was eaten by sharks, and how they'd grieved.
He fancied that someday, he'd like a kiss,
For kissing a mermaid, seemed like rare bliss
But something forebade him, to come that near;
So he was content, just stroking her hair.
One day he found her, dead in her tub;
Her heart had broken, all for his love.
No mermaid can tell human men of her heart,
Or else they'll spend their lives far apart,
It's a law of the sea, older than time;
So this be the end, of the mermaid rhyme.
love mermaids....!
Wow, you've caught onto something here, this is such an evocative verse. Compelling in the same way you talk about the poet it's written for. I have to say (have to say) this is another one of me favourites. You keep doing that, writing the ones I like so much.
this is so beautiful and a great rhyme
A sad tale, well told my friend.
A gripping narrative. I'm a sucker for unrequited love.
cute you, lol ;)
Awesome & sad all at the same time!