Someday your mermaid lover will leave
And return to her family in the sea
With crystal-clear teardrops falling,
For she knows not what she does —
Only that it causes pain.
And, like me, she wanted you happy.
You build a sandcastle around her memory.
Seashells for windows,
Seaweed monsters and salty moats,
A grave for one not dead,
But gone from you.
And though others love you,
You mourn and fall down over
An unblemished memory of a girl
Who wasn’t as heavenly as you recall.
It makes no difference:
You still deify her,
You bow down to no god but her.
I can see your mistakes,
Yet I repeat them myself,
Transferring all hope onto you,
Finding you a miracle
Instead of a sin.
You treat me as a stranger,
Though I’ve known you
Nearly forever.
Before that girl came into your short life
I saw your vulnerability,
Your lies and corruption.
You saw only forgiveness in my eyes —
It never mattered,
Because I could not end your misery
And bring her majesty back to your side.
My own demise at your feet
Is easy for me to ignore,
Slaving away to please you
I am the girl with the stolen voice,
The one who sold her soul for your own.
Though you’ll never find that out,
Chasing after your mermaid girl.
It never occurred to you
That I’m a mermaid, too.
