Heart of the Sea

If you have ever shattered

and settled on the seafloor like lantern glass,

waiting to be brought ashore by the belly

of a shark, then you know mermaids sing only

when they are lovesick,

sirens when they are desperate,

and I when Moon is distant

and too melancholy to guide me home.

It’s lonely on the open water,

the terns and their breakfast my only companions

while I search for something that’s begging

to be found.

It’s down there — the telltale thrum

that men before mistook for whalesong

or drowned to discover it was

much more than a myth

concocted by a sailor whose mind had been

long lost to drink and salt spray.

I wonder, how many lovers did she bring to her grave?

Remember when the currents pulled us

like driftwood to the same beach

and you promised me to forget those fantasies

about forever?

I could never tell you then,

but I was destined with a dreadful passion

that will mostly kill me.

I hope you found your gulls — that loyal colony.

I wanted to give you everything,

but the Heart of the Sea

is calling.