The Singer

I knew that something was going on

When she went to walk each night,

Just on dusk when the tide swept in

With the blue moon of delight,

She never asked me to tag along

Though at times I thought she must,

We’d once been close, but the time was wrong

And our closeness turned to dust.

I stayed back up in the dunes while she

Took on the darkening shore,

It triggered memories held when we

Had walked it once before,

That gentle rise where the sand had dried

And we sat awhile and kissed,

Now I sat lonely and cold aside

Bemoaning what I’d missed.

I didn’t follow along the beach

Too scared what I might find,

A lovers tryst in the dark I feared

That might upset my mind,

I knew my temper was short and so

I feared what might be done,

Out there, and under a hasty moon

Might see me overcome.

The moon was skirting the ocean’s rim

The stars were riding high,

My only thought as she disappeared,

In a single word, was ‘Why?’

I wondered what the attraction was

That would take her away each night,

Would leave me sat alone in the gloom

Like a pensive troglodyte.

It had to come to an end, I knew

So I strode along the beach,

Followed the trail of footprints where

The tide had failed to reach,

Till sudden, there was the sweetest song

On the wind, I ever knew,

And there was Isobel, sitting rapt

While the notes came fast and few.

And on a rock set above the tide

Sat the singer of the song,

The perfect form of a sweet mermaid

With her tail, so curved and long,

But then she gave out a sudden cry

When she saw my shadow fall,

And slithered back off the rock, to swim

Below to the mermaids’ hall.

‘Why did you come,’ said Isobel,

‘Why did you have to pry,

She’ll never come to the shore again

To sing to the empty sky.’

I turned and ran from her angry gaze

But at least I now know why,

She sits at night in the moon’s half light

And I often hear her cry.

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Einstein Noodle]

love the story ..as always well told sir! i hear every word and sound with oceans and mermaids in the mix ... i can smell the brine and kelp and can not help but shed a tear meself for the loss of such singing ;}
E.
ps "Like a pensive troglodyte." ... perfect says i! :))

[Coyote Poetry]

A amazing tale shared my friend.
"‘Why did you come,’ said Isobel,
‘Why did you have to pry,
She’ll never come to the shore again
To sing to the empty sky.’"
It is sad when we change a person or a place. Thank you for sharing the amazing poetry.
Coyote