Lalani

 

I swore, when my wife took off one night

That I'd never love again,

She'd left a note by the candlelight:

'I've been seeing other men!'

I stood in shock, I couldn't move,

Stood rooted to the floor,

And after I'd pulled the blinds, I cried,

Then locked the cottage door.

 

The love that she'd sworn, just shadows;

The plans that we'd made, just sand,

My life had become a darker place

By the scrawl from a woman's hand.

The cottage was wreathed in silence, it

Was still, like a living tomb,

The only sounds were my echoing steps

As I paced there, in the gloom.

 

I spent, God! How many weeks? I sat

Just stared at a blank, white wall,

I didn't dare venture out, but drank,

I tried to forget it all,

But then I'd walk at the lonely beach

Where we'd skipped to a lovers tune,

The light of love had been in my eyes

As she'd danced to a harvest moon.

 

The autumn passed in a drunken haze

The nights were becoming chill,

I warmed myself in the comforting blaze

Of a wood fire on the hill,

But then one night as the breakers crashed

And spent themselves on the reef,

I heard the sounds of a woman's moans

Rise up from the lonely beach.

 

The storm was whipping the rising crests,

The wind soughed through the trees,

I made my way to the beach, and there

She crawled on her hands and knees,

I picked her up, and carried her back

To the cottage, and there I saw

The sea had savaged her body there,

Dragged over the rocky shore.

 

There was no clothing of any sort,

Her skin was a pearly white,

But scraped and marred, she was loveliness

As she even bled in the night,

I washed and tended her every cut

And I held my breath in the gloom,

I couldn't believe my fortune there

As she lay in my own front room.

 

I wrapped her up in a robe, to save

Embarrassment for us both,

She slept content for an hour or two

While I watched, and prayed and hoped,

Then just at dawn, she opened her eyes

Took one brief glance at me,

Then muttered a word, she said, 'La-la...'

Again, said: 'La-lani.'

 

For days she lay in a fever, and

I fed her on fish and bread,

I tried to get her to talk to me

But she only shook her head,

She'd had a cut on the side of her neck

That had healed, some time before,

But opened up as I stared at it,

So she hid it under her hair.

 

Within a week she was up and out,

Was dancing along the beach,

She'd smile, and tease me to chase her there,

I laughed, first time for weeks;

She peeled the robe off as she danced,

Came naked into my arms,

Then kissed and smothered me way out there

With all of her womanly charms.

 

I thought that she might be deaf and dumb,

She never attempted a word,

But showed affection by patting my arm,

By nodding and shaking her head.

The slit on her neck stayed open, and

I looked at the other side,

Where one of the same had marred her skin,

She dropped her eyes, and sighed.

 

I'd said I never would fall in love

Again, and that was true,

But that was before Lalani,

I was smitten, and that she knew.

I told her then that I wanted her,

Said I loved her more than life,

I didn't care that she couldn't speak,

I'd take her for my wife.

 

She smiled, but then looked troubled,

Dropped her head down onto her chin,

I found her down at the water's edge

Where the tide was coming in,

She opened her mouth and sang a note

As mournful as the grave,

Like the tone of a bell in a waterspout,

Or an underwater cave.

 

And there in the shallows rose a man

With skin like a silver fish,

With eyes like a giant halibut,

And teeth for tearing flesh,

He leapt right out of the water,

Seized her arm and dragged her in,

I shouted her name, 'Lalani...'

But they'd gone, and the sea was calm.

 

In terror, I launched my boat, and revved

The engine out in the bay,

I circled the shallow waters,

Then I headed on out to sea,

I stopped at last, and stared straight down

To the weed on the ocean floor,

It was then that I saw Lalani

Swimming under the surface there.

 

She floated, feet below me,

Looking up, and she waved goodbye,

The fish man waited down below

As she turned - I thought I'd die!

She sank to the depths, and out of sight,

I knew that she'd gone for good...

I'll burn the cottage one moonless night,

Love's not in my neighborhood!

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[TrimarcoRansome]

You are a story teller and your stories must be told! Your brilliance astounds me, David. Your imagination is just incredible, this is a beautifully written story with depth and passion as I have come to expect from your tales. This was an absolute pleasure to read, thank you!

[Rick Puetter]

Dear David,

Another of your beautiful stories, taking the myth of the mermaid and making it personal and intimate. Nicely done. Loss of love felt twice.

Best regards,

Rick

[Tate Morgan]

I liked this one it is a bit different in the way it is told but sweet to see I can relate as a divorce is what set me to the page and therapy there of imaginings So fanciful that I made my own world good

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

The end of the siren's song is death; and in the case of this tale, the death of love. As ever, you hold the reader captive in your stunning web, spinning your story on your lamenting loom.

I will say, however, that the name Lalani immediately made me think of Hawaii, since that is the origin of the name. This strikes me as an odd name choice for the poem since I'm not aware of any myths of Hawaiian origin which involve sirens.

Normally such myths are of Greek or Roman origin. Since names evoke images due to their origin, the name Lalani doesn't particularly sit well with me. Also, I just can't envision a "cottage" on Hawaiian shores.

I found the image of Lalani under the water particularly profound considering the following quote by Franz Kafka in The Silence of the Sirens:

"Now the Sirens have a still more fatal weapon than their song, namely their silence. And though admittedly such a thing never happened, it is still conceivable that someone might possibly have escaped from their singing; but from their silence certainly never."

Her silence starved the last light of love.

Overall, as always, this is wonderfully writ.

Linda Marie Van Tassell

[Greg the Bard]

Don't let anyone tell you that pome is too long. It is wonderfully written in a style of open prose. Each stanze brings its own images that build the story to climax. The speed and flow are spot. If I have anything I felt wrong it would be some of the sentence ending words. This does not take away from the work at all. well done.

[Valentine]

David, so much imagination it must have taken you to come up with this write..It is so beautiful and yet sad..The words flow like the water in the sea..and you have made me see her beneath the water..Great write..One of your best..God bless..Your American Mate. Kathie

[Mark]

Norma speaks aright, when she says she has seen none to compare to you, my friend, my writer of odes. Your flowing verse takes us into your world and beats the living tar out of us, as they are almost unremittingly tragic; not less so, this! Who among us has not prayed for surcease from pain, and when we believed it within reach, had it unapologetically snatched back? Who, having known despair not once but severally, has not forsworn the possibility of any future happiness? If ever a future edition of this poem were to be undertaken, I'd be interested to know how she came to be granted a temporary walk on Terra Firma, and what it was she did to void her "liberty", what was her relationship to the Merman; SO many intriguing possibilities!
One minute note, if I may: is there a structural or emphatic reason why the second line of St. 11 is so abbreviated? Would "Nor ever doubted that was true!" improve the metricity, or have I missed a vital point?

[Norma J. Jessee]

Such a sad story, but oh so beautifully told. You are the master and as I said before I can just picture you sitting with a circle of people around you as you tell your delightful tales. You are extremly talented David, I have seen no other that can compare.

This reminds me of a story I watched where a mermaid had been captured and put on display for any who would pay to see her. But everyone was warned that should she start to sing to cover their ears to keep from hearing her song or else they would be lost.

As Lena said you have given the tales of mermaids a wonderful modern twist. I love it as I do all your stories.

[Lena M. P.]

Of that was wonderful. The call of the siren song. How many men have lost life and minds from the lure of the beautiful sea maiden! You have told the story with a wonderful modern twist. Thank you for sharing it with me. You made me smile.