Mermaid Poem by Mark Heathcote

I have held my breath, breathless
Soul to soul, heartbeat by heartbeat
I have navigated this woman's every shoreline
Cherishing her every curve, her every jagged whim.
Her every soft; swish brushing movement
Composed within without of its most; angelic music

That's beholden my breath, breathless
Here have been nights my own, heartbeat
Forgot it had had once the loneliest shoreline.
Here, her least gesture, a full sail, her every whim,
A spellbound wave hung in perpetual movement:
On floats the impossible bottle my heart within her music.

Brothers, comrades, I have been breathless
More Maritime's one soul could count in an endless heartbeat.
I've swum heavenly naked & reared-up on that shoreline
I've drowned in that surf that was no whim
No fantasy & sirs, no sin by name or movement
Sure, she was a mermaid a siren, but heaven was her music.

I'd have held my breath, breathless
Soul to soul, heartbeat to heartbeat
If I could breathe hold one breath, breathless without a shoreline
Of that beauty passing, I would happily, without a whim,
A struggle of any kind forced unnatural movement.
Give of my whole life's music.

To hear her breast filled beating like a slave drum breathless
Soul to soul, heartbeat to heartbeat
Next to mine chained to a heavenly barrier reef shoreline
Held together in one breath one locked bubbles whim
One all-encompassing solidifying movement
That'll never break or burst away from the music.