Sarah [A poem]

Fathoms below they reside

Eyes tinged green

Skin tanned and sleek

Cold wet and desperate

Yet passionate for the waves

Talking of seashells and gold

Of sweet words and eyes that shine

Their mersong warms your blood

Seduces you, captivates you

Until you’re drowning long before

you ever leave dry land

A girl named sarah

once called my name

As she was pulled down

under the waves

A girl named sarah

once gasped my name

As she took her last breath

In that creature’s embrace

I loved Sarah deeply

Her cascading hair

Her strong limbs

Her warm skin

I loved her more than my own life

Then that thing came

And she was already gone

The word spread around

A survivor of a boat tragedy

Who made a miraculous recovery

In the arms of the town beauty

In the arms of my Sarah

The day after that thing came

I saw them in the square

Flowers, wine, music,

Introducing it to sweet little cakes

While it traced the lines of her palm

Day and night it haunted every step

The markets, the gathering, the dances

The smiles, the embraces, the respect

The love that should’ve been mine.

Then the night came

And the moon and the sky

All mocked me. they mocked me!

As the world danced further away

I caught them down by the waves

Just as the tide came in

And a flash of black glazed in its eyes

I saw her mouth form a silent scream

And the last I saw of her outside my dreams

Were her golden locks vanishing beneath the sea

Years and years on

Alone and cold I am still

In my little house by the sea

With this hate that will never leave

A thorn in my chest becoming a knife

At the thought of Sarah

Being that thing’s wife

The memory creeps into my dreams

The nightmare over and over again

The skin undoing, the hair receding,

The eyes slanting and yet...

how it’s face...how it still looked perfect

How Sarah still couldn’t take her eyes off it

Still sunken into a dream

Seduced by the illusion

I dream of death as well

Of slaying the monster

Of condemning the vermin

To an eternity spent sunken

In blood filled waters

But another dream creeps in

Voices come to me, whispering

If I want revenge on all not one alone

I must take one of the beasts for my own

The fear in our eyes

Are theirs to keep blame

The vanished daughters

The snatched wives

The sons left forgotten

The husband's hearts

That grow cold and rotten

Vile monsters never slated!

With my fist they shall be brained!

I shall find it! Take from it!

Just like it took from me!

How do they live below the sea?

Palaces crafted over centuries

With what do they craft the roofs?

Salt, seaweed, soft locks of hair

Hair that’s gold with a shine

Rows of pearls with every smile

To remind them of every temptation

Every lure towards a shawl of gold

Gold….

Gold is how they can be tempted!!

You beasts

Sarah will never return to me

But all i need is a coat and a net

And before the sun rises above the sea

Taken! My revenge will be!

Patterning the sand and

the water lapping with pressure

The tool of capture is prepared

My trap of golden net is set

And the salt is the taste of revenge

And so the net snares a bitch one night

She caws at me as i secure the binds

But fingers replace her claws

And her putrid skin gains color

She looks human. Smells like a human.

And yet...

That same heart shaped face…

Eyes the same shade of green

Long blonde hair like Sarah

I was going to kill her but now i may keep her

A bride for myself perhaps

Though with no breeding

The thought makes my stomach turn

The bitch is good for nothing but

shrieks, scowls and moping

Besides...I have what I want

An eye for an eye, a theft for a theft

A love lost to the sea, a love lost to the land

The jape is on them

now neither man or mer can turn their backs

A theft in the night, snatched under the sun

They fear us right back

They fear only a sharp blade

The failure to pierce a man

Others fear net on the sands

And entrapment on land

This is how it is now

A bitter heart and a spiteful monster

A demon and it’s heartsick victim

A threat that started right here

With me in a cold shack by the sea

This is how the legend goes

A man and the mer could encounter

Yet after the fact

One will remain, the other won’t come back