Gills

submission for the competition "The Magic of Merfolk, Sirens & Water Nymphs"

~

I would give up a year of living
to love something the way you love the water;
I was convinced time had slaughtered
any mirage of childhood I had left -
when I look around me, all the meaning abates;
it had its moment to crest, rest, then crash with the waves,
but you and your gills still believe in the seasons,
and they could forever - even in an ocean's breezes

on sand bars;
even through the salt that stings this sealess man's scars;
even through a mess at the depths in depressing caviar -
hell, if the ocean froze, your hopeful mermaid toes
could turn the ice to gold;

you must have brushed the water, hushed every aquatic evil,
and sought the old, ferocious ocean spoken through your sweet gills.