Mermaid Yearnings

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Four months before I turned nineteen,
I swore I’d fall in love.
With hook and line I’d catch a fish,
And bring him up above.

So then I dreamt of marlins, sharks,
Swift sturgeons and the sort,
But Neptune sent me lavishly,
A mermaid from his court.

He blessed me thus and summoned forth,
This Nereid of song,
With nacre tail and foam-blue hair,
And magic rare and strong.

To lovelorn me she sang and sang,
Emerging from the sea,
With star-filled eyes and salted lips,
She said, “Now follow me.”

She lured me, pulled me, dragged me down,
Into the endless blue:
Thalassic doom of mortal me,
I knew this to be true.

Though beguiled by this lovely nymph,
I feared her tender kiss,
For I can grow no fins, no gills:
I’d die in her abyss.

Thus linger long and I will drown,
Know not their mysteries,
Perish, not see their ocean deep,
Nor join their reveries.

--

It's more than a week into February, and though I've written plenty of love poems, this is the first one that I had polished enough to post.

First things first, though: the image I chose, The Mermaid by Howard Pyle (1910), is absolutely stunning, and fits the mood of this poem perfectly. Of course, as you may have figured out (and if you haven't, I'll tell you anyways), the narrator is female and this whole poem might as well be called "Lesbian Yearnings," or "Bisexual Yearnings" or something like that. And, of course, the hapless mortal in the painting is a man. However, I think this addendum can justify my use of such a beautiful piece of art, however inconsistent it is with the whole purpose of the poem.

Anyhow, enjoy! I'm enjoying Valentine's Day with a marlin, so that makes me a hypocrite!