Not at all timid like her mythological counterparts,
she bursts forth with as much energy as the waves that she disappears under.
She is far more confident in the water than on land.
The sun is her friend; it lets her shine.
She needs to be close to the wet expanse – even if it means only licking her toes –
dependent on the moisture, dripping with possibility.
The heart inside her chest is not unlike the one that hides beneath the sands far below.
They both possess treasure waiting quietly to be discovered.
At the bottom of the ocean lies her deepest,
darkest secrets, covered in layers of seaweed and barnacles.
Her chest holds more than she can possibly fathom – like leagues in the sea.
Sometimes it is too much and the internal storms toss her around
far more often than she would care to admit.
She is not afraid of the vast open ocean.
Watch her float in the deep where no one dares to follow her.
Watch her as she pretends she is capable of breathing – she tries to hold her breath.
What serenity lies beneath the foam.
It’s almost as if she will fade away the further she flees away from the water.
She cannot imagine life away from the blue.
She doesn’t mind being tossed about by the waves;
the constant swaying reminds her that nothing stays the same.
Kindness radiates in her heart like the sand warming her skin under a cloudless sky.
Her mind is as changing as the tides, temperamental as the currents that shift every hour.
Those mermaids you see in stories, in legends and nautical tales?
She is just as mysterious.
When you meet her, you will know.
You will know she is far from her stretch of sand,
that she doesn’t belong, and will not be staying long.
You will see her lips parched, dreaming of the salt water;
her skin screaming for moisture.
Like all young ones, filled with inquisition and yearning,
she will disappear to migrate with the whales,
exploring different coasts and tasting different waters.
But she will always come home.
The ENID Network 