once upon a time,
paradise surrounded a quiet sound.
- i -
alone in a lavender field.

no one could hear my beating heart.

save
     the sparrow that came to
eat seed from my open hand.

save
     the migrating whales,
singing to me below
sunset cliff.

i had known a long winter,
pushed down, held under water
for so long, i could not remember
the taste of air, the sting of oxygen
burning red in my blood.

but

the sea will not drown me.

she is my mother, my sister,
she will only send me home
with a strong story etched into my bones.

the ones
with iron will and cruel hands
hold a miscalculated promise.

their fortune
crumbles under purple skies,
their lies exposed in
lightening flash.

i am mermaid, remembering
the storm.

i am the sparrow whisper on
top of the whale song.