From wooden mouths above the deep,
From oaken tongues upon the swell,
When figureheads arouse from sleep
To greet each other’s ships, they tell
The tragedy of the bowsprit mermaid and the stemhead dragon.
Two sculptures clad in crisscross scales
And carved into each noble prow
Beheld each other through the gales
And dipped with curtsy or with bow—
The courtship of the bowsprit mermaid and the stemhead dragon.
To dance upon the waves was not
Enough. They longed to join and steal
A rapt’rous kiss, and so they fought
Against each rudder and ship’s wheel.
The folly of the bowsprit mermaid and the stemhead dragon!
Two wooden mouths that dared to meet,
Two oaken tongues that risked a touch
Had doomed their crews and made complete
The curse of those who pine too much:
The collision of the bowsprit mermaid and the stemhead dragon.
Two wooden mouths within the deep,
Two oaken tongues beneath the swell
Reveal the hidden dragon’s keep
And mermaid’s final slumber-shell—
The ghost song of the bowsprit mermaid and the stemhead dragon.
Now other figureheads cry out,
“Maintain your course!” They envy us
Our human choice to move about,
To change, connect, and love—and thus,
Our calling from the bowsprit mermaid and the stemhead dragon.
First published in Heroic Fantasy Quarterly
