Draft in the author’s style. This poem was written for Poet in Wonderland to sit beside the author’s own readings, and is waiting for the author’s review. The commentary is a working draft too.
At the edge of the coral kingdom, where the sea grew dark and deep,
A mermaid met a sailor who was weary and could not sleep.
She offered him a bargain: a pearl for a single song,
For the sea was full of silence, and she had been silent long.
He sang her a song of his harbour town, of gulls and washing lines,
Of his mother's yellow kitchen and the smell of ovens and pines.
She wept a tear of pearl for each verse he sang from land,
And they piled up at his elbow in a shining, silver band.
He took the pearls to his wife and child and built a little home,
But he never lost the memory of the depths where he had roamed.
And on stormy nights the mermaid sings, for the sailor's song lives on,
In the waves that turn to whispers at the breaking of the dawn.
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Commentary
A mermaid trades pearls for a sailor’s song in this gentle sea tale. It shows that memory and music can be worth more than treasure.
“At the edge of the coral kingdom,” a mermaid meets “a sailor who was weary and could not sleep.” She offers “a pearl for a single song,” for “the sea was full of silence.” He sings of “his harbour town, of gulls and washing lines,” and “his mother’s yellow kitchen.”
“She wept a tear of pearl for each verse he sang from land,” and the pearls pile at his elbow. He takes them home and “built a little home,” but never forgets the depths. And “on stormy nights the mermaid sings, for the sailor’s song lives on.”