A Mermaid So Recently Poem by Margaret Alice Second

Wading into the sea I turned into a mermaid, shot
torpedo style through bubbly breakers and turned
somersaults as light as a feather, the sky a perfect
sphere filled with impressive cloud formations, and
2 years standing at my desk instead of sitting have
made me strong enough to brave the biggest waves

Beach activities led by a loud young man thundering
into his holiday audience, a pink flamingo in the waves
with a fair damsel and her beau keeping her safe, then
my heroic young son asked his dad to collect me in his
sedate estate car as carrying things tired me walking
down to the beach, and like a flaming fury Scorpio

Descended upon me: Lord and Master of the Crocodile
Castle with a frown burning happiness to a tinder, how
dare we, his minions, ask him to move from his happy
spot in front of some heavenly sevens rugby game &
fuming he explains this is NOT how this holiday will be,
we're on our own - my son and I should know, so

The beautiful mermaid turned into a hag, a witch, an
evil apparition, a banshee; lost for words, besieged by
the Queen of Hearts and brother Attila the Hun who de-
mands a formal visit and my Twin Sis the Duchess also
wants to show her refurbished home, yet the menacing
danger of Scorpio exploding is so real, stopping future

Holidays, the hag stomps to a screen to write the things
she has seen, yet can't interpret, being a dumb witch who
imposes on Scorpios, takes getting used to after having
been a mermaid so recently…

[10 December 2016]