In the below, dolphins click and call,
their mournful song resonating
through the realm
and the world turns its way,
sloshing the ocean over the coral palace
where a father once watched his
fish-tailed daughter at play,
but now the old man weeps fresh tears into brine
for dry men have stolen her away.
~
a wish encases itself in a bubble
rising to break beneath a night sky
awash in silver light
~
Beyond the enveloping deep,
she sits alone beside, where the sweep
of outstretched arms can no longer lift her,
and a powerful pulse of tail only stings
as scales flap useless against the ground.
She knows she must split herself in two
and brace her newfound feet against earth,
whose force pulls every part of her down.
slowly, she removes her crown,
stooping to collect shells that sing the sound of home
she now roams a land where sun and wind
will leach the water from her skin,
and salted and ashen she must
beg the man to love her.
~
a wish encases itself in a nutshell
sinking into the darkness to drift in unseen currents
it eventually comes to rest.
Honorable winner
Adding your comment:
The mermaid leaves her home "in the below [where] dolphins click and call" ... trying to find her place in a new, unfamiliar dry world. A tender and emotional story!
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