Mermaid Watcher by Sally Jackson
Forty million B.C.
The cities below the blue
were all gone.
The edge of their world
became the stories of air.
Her lover sank into the sand
until the blind crabs ate his bones.
She was the last to live below.
She disappeared into the green.
The memories she had of cities in the deep: languages of gold, beings in the Blue Who lived their lives of plenty but couldn’t breathe the air.
She swam with dolphins in the deep. They were her friends, but they knew too that they would stay so she could leave.
She was the last to live below and she knew it. No swimming children anymore. The giant lizards were all gone. She was the last to live below. They all had gone for lack of hope.
She knew that life changed like the tides. She went to follow to the caverns of the deep.
New Earth, new land, new light. New paintings on cave walls. Up in the shadows of new hills, up in the air—and in the earth. She was the last to live below. She disappeared into the green. She knew she’d never know a breath.
She disappeared into the green where all her people went before. They gladly gave up history, but she just couldn’t give up hope until there was no soul like hers and she was all alone, and so, finally, she couldn’t stand it anymore. She disappeared into the green below the edge of her blue world and let the dolphins lead her home and speak her name among themselves. The dolphins whisper her name still and swim with people in her name. They even touch them to remember how it felt to feel her hand.
They only swim with people now so they can remember her.
The memories she had of cities in the deep: languages of gold, beings in the Blue Who lived their lives of plenty but couldn’t breathe the air.
She swam with dolphins in the deep. They were her friends, but they knew too that they would stay so she could leave.
She was the last to live below and she knew it. No swimming children anymore. The giant lizards were all gone. She was the last to live below. They all had gone for lack of hope.
She knew that life changed like the tides. She went to follow to the caverns of the deep.
New Earth, new land, new light. New paintings on cave walls. Up in the shadows of new hills, up in the air—and in the earth. She was the last to live below. She disappeared into the green. She knew she’d never know a breath.
She disappeared into the green where all her people went before. They gladly gave up history, but she just couldn’t give up hope until there was no soul like hers and she was all alone, and so, finally, she couldn’t stand it anymore. She disappeared into the green below the edge of her blue world and let the dolphins lead her home and speak her name among themselves. The dolphins whisper her name still and swim with people in her name. They even touch them to remember how it felt to feel her hand.
They only swim with people now so they can remember her.