The Little Mermaid's Change of Heart: A Poem

The Little Mermaid's Change of Heart 

Deep in water and out of sight,
Where fish and coral drift in flight,
Come whispers of a foreign land,
Where sunlight shines and warms the sand.

Forever upward lies the gaze,
Of a girl with scaly arms and legs,
Weeping tears that never fall,
Hearing always the seaman's call.

"Three hundred years we have to live
And never have a soul to give"
She cries in darkness and in fear,
Drifting, drifting, her home so near.

"We burrow in the water deep
The surface never ours to keep,
Where waters break and sunlight dies,
Our heads of wonder ever rise."

Young and eager for a sight,
Of walking men and dancing light,
Up she flew, as mermaids do,
To catch a glimpse of men and women too.

She breathes and sighs the deepest air,
Never having seen a ship so fair.
But thunder claps and hammers hard,
And lightning shows the ship in shards.

The storm rips and shreds the boat,
While men and woman begin to float.
A boy is falling from the deck,
Into the mermaid's arms and neck.

She holds him dear and pats his head,
Her heart screams with words unsaid.
A thousand arms she wished she had
She'd catch them all and would be glad.

Men can swim and kick and pound,
But their fate is with the ground,
And topped with leaves or with sea,
 There the place of resting be.

But the girl can't know what happens then,
Her life, though long, has been with fin.
The sun shines and makes a way
For a hundred souls to fly away

She holds a life, the others drowned,
He is breathing, but uncrowned,
She lets him go into the deep,
His soul arises, never hers to keep.

I feel a bit silly posting poetry, as this is probably only the second poem I've ever completed. I'm under no delusions about it- it's a terribly simple rhyme. But I think the message isn't and I hope that comes through. I re-read The Little Mermaid last night and felt like writing about it this morning. So I did. It's such a powerful story and easily my favorite fairy tale.

P.S. If you don't think it sucks, let me know! If you think it sucks, let me know that too (nicely of course)!