The Mermaid in the Doorway

 

The mermaid in the doorway

Swishing her quilted tail

Propped up she blinks

Away the days

As winter nights hold hands

Stewed she melts the world

To something she can stand

 

Shark-bitten fingers

Gripping her cup of shells

She’s waiting for the stingrays

To ride the waves, forget

Or saving for small fry

To keep her alive

 

Her face is carved by tempests

‘Hard lines’, her mother said

Hard lines among her freckles now

Beauty’s no odds here

And fair of face are first

To be thrashed against the rocks

Leaving only sunken cheeks

 

Tide and time cast shoals

Across this city reef

They’re loathed to step on urchins

Discarded scattered spines

The wind fastens like a net

Golden threads of hair upon her face

And eats her pleading chimes

 

Memories dry as autumn leaves

Rattling out their husky tune

As they swirl her stony nook

She casts adrift beneath her hood

To the place where she lost her mirror

And sight of herself for good

 

After dark the city glows

This bed step is an iceberg

Only sounds to keep her warm

The sea wolves howl in packs

And whales groan up and down

With bellies full of people

Who have somewhere to go

 

She never was a siren

Bless her blistered soul

Few lured by her cries

To part with change

But the stars are her necklace

Her lighthouse is the moon

And a sailor’s waiting for her

On a promise in the skies