Mermaid

 

   

About human love,

                              she knew nothing. 

 

I’ll show you he promised.

But first you need legs.

 

And he held up

                         a knife

 

with the sharpest of tips

to the ripeness of her emerald tail.

 

She danced an involuntary dance,

captive

            twitching with fear.

  

Swiftly

            he slit

 

down the muscular length

exposing the bone in its red canal.

 

She played dead on the rock

                

           dead by the blue lagoon

           dead to the ends of her divided tail.

 

He fell on her, sunk himself deep

into the apex.

 

Then he fled

                     on his human legs.

 

Human love cried the sea,

the sea in her head.