Seaworthy
A mermaid foresees
life on unwavering land
away from the swarm
sisters, mermen
a modern myth transcends
mother, daughter
Atargatis transforms
carries the shame
the death of her lover
Mediterranean skin turned
strange azure
shunned to a life of loneliness
still, like no other
half fish, harbored wish
Arching her back
she dances on
crowned seawater
at neap-tide under
the quartered moon
escapes from the edge
of hidden coral
from a place mapmakers
cannot map
Emerging
from the Atlantic
she curves the rocky shore
a current past the Verrazano narrows
and Coney Island’s Ferris wheel
bends towards Breezy Point
schools of summer flat fluke
weakfish with green tinge
still, like no other
half fish, harbored wish
Sluicing
through the city docks
lips part the waterline
long dark locks wave through seaweed
salty water drips off her cheeks
teal dusk breeze on a static tide
still, like no other
half fish, harbored wish
she takes her first free breath
Between
jagged wooden beams
scale to skin
under splintered moonlight
footsteps on the boardwalk
she climbs the barnacled posts
pulls herself onto the planks
her magnificent
emerald-jeweled fin
turns to limb
Released
from her jaded glass sea
She bellows, “Mother Atargatis,
your curse no longer
drowns me!”
still, like no other
half fish, harbored wish