When you were rude to the rich
they called the magicians three
you awoke in the dark and knew
they’d turned you into a tree
Came to like the little bird feet
and every season change
but couldn’t get used to the loved ones
you’d never see again
Chorus:
Cut from you the billow breast
the fin, the coral nipple
the golden hair and the sea-blue eyes
and apple is the skin
Trapped in the apple tree
you feel one day the jar
of a sculptor’s ax to hew
a girl to hang over a bar
Now your longing finally can flow
through her figurehead your pain
and sing from your chain like the ocean
in every season change
(Chorus)
Although a bit of a hack
the sculptor found a way
to show your grief in the mermaid’s curves
your love, the glint in her eye
Your pride: that’s the mermaid’s grin
the bosom scorning death
the curse and the whittling dumbed you
but your feelings still have breath
(Chorus)
For years I pass below you
for a drink with all my friends
we carouse, but I sometimes hear
the soul your mermaid sends
That cries for a world that’s lost
so I pause before the beer
then lift my glass even higher
and toast the life that’s here
(Chorus)
Copyright © 2006 Tom Ross, www.mijazi.com