mermaid musing

In the summer
that we locked our doors against our neighbors
and crossed the street to avoid one another
I became a mermaid
the water my preferred milieu
I would swim farther and farther each day
trying to outdistance germs, disease and age 
I thought I could exist forever
in the warmth of waters
like a prenatal being
unable to even imagine a world
outside its mother’s womb

But time catches up with all
my mermaid tail turned back to legs
and no sorceress’ spell
could return me to my watery home
I am calcifying and ossifying
my only future hope
is swimming weightless among angels

Liz McFadzean