what the waves bring
they have long abandoned briny water
breaking allegiance to
binding seas
having grown entirely human
having shed their exquisiteness
maidens walk among us now
some will call this evolution
they have consorted with the fragrance of wind
and have worn the patience of morning fog
like a veil for too long
quietly they gracefully appear
in our homes taking seats at our supper tables
and no one seems bothered
it’s a slow demonstration
what with weathermen predicting melancholy
barkeeps talking to themselves
doctors disagreeing
these maidens employ their art and skill
becoming self-sufficient
some will marry, rear offspring
others will wait for a
ripening opportunity
they will eat like us
create like us
they will teach us
and learn from us
and they too will eventually become
users and exploiters
of youth and what we call beauty
and like all land dwellers
they have exchanged one passage
for another
all creatures having arisen
from the same spawn of heaving tides
the breath of sun will
become their holy vice