literature

A Mermaid

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ThornyEnglishRose's avatar
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Literature Text

She conjures quite a storm,
Sends up great waves to swarm the deck,
To drown the crew and wreck
Their ship and snap the neck of those
Not yet in their death throes.
As ev’ry sailor knows, a maid
Who dwells in ocean’s shade
Will lure them far from aid, from land,
And with bewitching hand,
She’ll toss them, sink them and destroy
The lives of man and boy,
So that she may employ their ship
As home, and she will strip
It bare, and then equip the thing
With ev’ry belonging
She likes; perhaps she’ll sing as she,
A maiden fair and free,
Hangs shells and all things sea, and weeds…
’Tis all a mermaid needs;
These are the very deeds that show
She owns the place, and so
All sea-dwellers will know that she,
This daughter of the sea,
Has claimed the ship to be her base,
Her private, wicked space,
Her stolen, murdered place of warm.
This is my entry for GrimGloomTales So Much Water contest.

Having recently read Mermaids: The Secret Histories by Ari Berk, Wayne Anderson et al., this idea sprang to mind when I saw the theme. Perhaps we're going to see a lot of mermaids in this contest, or perhaps others will manage to be a bit more original. Either way, my USP* here is that I have performed the difficult task of writing a Lục Bát.

I last wrote a Lục Bát about three and a half years ago, and I got a few comments from people saying how super impressed they were, which was nice. If you want to know why, here is a link to the Wikipedia page that breaks down the form. But that doesn't mean I expect to be showered with praise or anything. In fact, I should probably have a go at this challenging form more often, because I do like it.

*Perhaps everyone knows what a USP is, but just in case you don't, it means Unique Selling Point. ;)
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KittyKillAll-Art's avatar
I'm loved this! You captured what it means to be a mermaid perfectly.