Fairytale & Literature 2
The Sea-Maid
The moon was a snowy pearl
Shimmering on the dark sapphire sea.
Its silver light lumined upon
The ivory skin of the sea-maid.
Only the moon-pale gulls
Were witness
And they were no longer curious ---
It had been the same
Night upon night,
Under the light of moon and star.
A lonely vigil and secret,
With no company save the gulls,
The sea-maid endured
And watched with bright, shining eyes of sea-blue and silver
For the sails of her lover ---
She desired him to see
The present he had left her.
Night upon night
She waited upon the ancient sea-washed crag,
Perfect for observing
And being observed.
Dark sea wind chilled her
And desiccated her ivory skin,
Yet she endured the tortures of the upper air
Hoping.
She cradled the babe, swaddled in seaweed,
Arms drawn closer to her warmth,
A waterfall of moon-silver silk hair
Cascaded from time to time over the babe,
Amusing and warming,
Keeping it more comfortable than its mother,
As she searched the distant shore
And the endless horizon.
Still nothing.
A night like all other nights.
Her one regret: to give in
And grant her lover's desire<
To return home.
All she has: the babe
And hope,
One day,
She will see him again.
poem copyright Vanora Hagen 1996
image copyright Vanora Hagen 1996
Turning of the Season
Under the autumn moon,
A luminous disk of milky gold
Suspended in the vermilion sky,
The pale lady danced.
Round and round the bonfire she went,
Ivory body and fiery hair burning against the verdant darkness
Between the ancient pine
And the dead tree.
Fair of face was she,
Supple and long-limbed of body,
As she danced
Sky-clad
Under the autmn moon.
