mermaid

sometimes i get to go Home.

i was a

 mermaid girl

today, in my family's bathtub-

i closed my eyes & held my breath and then

sprouted gills & tail fins,

submersing myself to find my way home.

she was beautiful and mysterious, my Mother-

she didn't give up her secrets easily

her flowing aquamarine

hair 

her deep blue skirts, her rich pearls.

the edges of her torrent dress 

make love with the sand

of the bleached white shore,

giving birth to sea foam, Aphrodite, and

dreams.

in dreams, i can reach her.

in dreams i can be eternally lurking

in murky waters,

or among bountiful coral reefs

& emerald kelp forests.

in dreams i can swim, swim forever

or as long as i like,

be light as air under the water

be sea green, reflecting the light of the sun

off my scales, rays bouncing

i was

a mermaid girl-

and then 

the water got cold;

and then

i woke up.