There Is Only One I Loved

In calm waves of imaginings I am mermaid, Always chasing you through the towering tides, Disappearing between each scalloped crest; Only my tail visible, sticking out at odd angles. I have lean, strong swimmer’s muscles; I can swim for miles, Nearly keep up with submarines, ships, ferry’s, For a limited time. My hair tumbles down As though a nest, like dirty, twisted seaweed Around my face’s shipwreck-glass eyes And sunscald lips. I follow keenly the scent; Something, someone who’s precious- human scent, Pungent, earthy, vivifyingly attractive, Counterpoint to the ocean’s ambergris. Meanwhile there’s only horizons of teal water all around me, And roving sky above; my sole company most days. I swim with just the barest hint Of whispered memories, Something so far and long ago; He who knew well the secret heart of me, Within my fishy innards And in spite of my appearance. Sometimes a stray dolphin befriends me, And travels for a distance beside me; Speaking in strange, native high-pitched dolphin talk; And dolphins are interesting, but they are not men, And they can’t comprehend what is it I follow In the blind, long-aching of unknown distance, Or what I pine for nightly, in my roiling watery soul In the solitary caves, of this twilight world.