lament of mar

  you don't understand

i'm still a foreigner here

a mermaid on land may live but she's the stranger

to this stumbling gait

to the wear of grit on her feet

and each step is just a little bit harder

than you would think

because the gravity grief

tugs at every corner of me

and makes each smile that much heavier

because i need to pull it up from the corners of my mouth

like strands of seaweed that used to catch

on my tail and make the ripples green

and there i knew how to move

could find my way

easily and confident

as surely as you do on these streets

with your head up high and never looking

behind though i am falling further

flailing about looking for something to hold on

failing at all that i tried

till i slide at last to this soil

that sticks to me and drags me down

i always thought the sea would cry on my bones

but it seems only the raindrops

expatriates as well

dare to grieve over me