Proof that Once She Was a Mermaid

[milo]

Proof that once she was a mermaid

She denies it with a laugh -
shakes her head and disagrees -
but dips a taste of sourwood honey
and doesn't fear the bees.

Her warm green eyes swim
with memories of the seas
and when a siren calls -
some ambulance from hidden streets
of dreary londontown -
she doesn't harbor
secret fears that it's for her
just shakes her head in sympathy for me.

She loves the taste of animals that hoof
the earth and graze the fields so openly -
who would not pretend to love
the taste of fish or salad greens?

But I won't sow the earth with seeds of salt
or hide my eyes and ears to free my dreams.
No, bind me to this mast and let me hear her song
as others cry with emptiness -
the king's men starving at a feast.