Crash

By Jacob James Grigware

The moon is overhead

Accompanied by the stars

My brothers are fast asleep

The day was good but hard

I rock in my hammock

Listening to the sounds of night

My body trembles with tire

That pale fire pierces my mind

I slosh and I churn

The moon has crossed the sky

And yet here I lie, awake among my dreaming brethren

Pleading to the moon, why?

Those waves

I can hear them crash

What’s the point in lying here?

I dare to ask

My feet touch down on sand

They sink

With every step 

Less and less deep

Until the sand is firm and damp

And the land seeps beneath the sea

Shin deep now

Those waves I heard earlier, crashing into me

I dive

My body swallowed whole

The cold pierces my mind

Like a knife, I cut through the surface

Alive, at last

La luna sees me

My tired body held gently by the swaying sea

My aching mind absorbed in the soothing sea

I drift from the beach

The ocean currents taking me

I’ll swim back in a minute I think 

La Luna’s friends are looking at me

Did my head just touch something?

All the way out here?

In the middle of the sea?

I take my eyes off the stars

And find a of pair sea green eyes

Staring back at me

Somehow, someway

A mermaid has drifted into me

We both sat up to stare

If you can do that in water

Are you not afraid? She asked

Her voice as piercing as the sea

No need, I said

I am in the sea

Accompanied by the stars

I am exactly where I need to be

What if I killed you?

Dragged you underwater?

I let you drown, I tear your heart out?

Would your bravery not faulter?

I am in the sea

At any moment

It could choose to kill me 

It could drown me if it pleased

Drag me underwater

Tear me apart

With the rocks or the sharks 

or with the weight of the water

I would not be here if I were afraid of death

Kill me if you must

Perhaps my soul

Will be put to rest

In the moonlight

her skin burned white

Her daggers diverted

She no longer meant to threaten me

Do you know how dangerous it is for someone like me

To be alone?

A mermaid survives with its kind

Even you could overpower me

She wasn’t lying

I could hear it in her tone

Me? Overpowering you? In the sea? Your home?

I would never have known

So why are you out here alone?

Why inform me of this reality?

I could not rest

I stare up at the surface of the water

Like you might, the sky

I slosh and I churn

I watch the moon

Cross over the sea

I hear the waves crash

Whats the point in lying down here?

I dare to ask

I am in the sea

At any moment

It could choose to kill me

It could throw me on the beach

If it pleased

Spit me out

Tear me apart

With the rocks or the sharks 

Or with the weight of the water

I would not be here if I were afraid of death

Even so, I don’t want to kill you

And I doubt you, me

So, for now, a truce between you and me?

A truce

I agree

Though the sun is coming up

I have to leave

Tomorrow night then? She asks

Tomorrow night, I agree

Then she grabs my hand, drags me

And leaves me at the edge of the sea

I watch her 

Shimmering tail slip under the waves

The sun 

Leaking through the mountains

Where’ve you been?

My brothers dare to ask

The ocean, I tell

Pulling up my rested mask

Let's get to work!

My biggest brother says

Picking up a fallen Palm Tree

My other brothers groan, picking up smaller ones than he

My body hauls a tree

While my mind is in the sea

My body works for my tribe

While my mind wanders

What would they do 

If they knew

Who I was waiting for?

What I was longing to do?

I remember 

As I stack wood for houses

A story my older brother told me

Passed down by my late parents for when they ventured across the sea

Seven ships

And four were torn down

Waves of mermaids

Ripping and thrashing and a screeching sound

Our ancestors swore war on those fucking fish

My brother told me once

You and I must avenge our family

And silence the mermaid's nightly taunts at once!

The Sun

Drags across the sea

This day is so long

Is the sun God teasing me?

Go away 

I tell the sun

Tell the moon to come out already

All of a sudden 

My head is heavy

The sand is elusive

On the ground lies my mask

And like the waves

I crash

Are you alright?

My brothers ask

Pulling me to the shade

Handing me the fruit that bears water

I’ll survive

Just a poor night

I lie

You’ve done enough for today

My biggest brother says

Go lie down

Soon, we’ll be on our way

Soon the sun will go down

And I’ll jump into the sea

Soon

It’ll just be her and me

I open my eyes

At last

The moon is over the sea

Bye brothers

I’ve got to leave

I need to see

About a girl

One who lives in the sea

The water crashes into me

I dive

My body swallowed whole

The cold pierces my mind

I’m about to rise when

Something latches onto me

In a panic 

I open them to see

And find a pair of sea green eyes

Staring back at me

Do you trust me?

I hear her whisper, somehow under the water

I nod

She says Hold onto me

Then she carries me through the sea

As fast as I’ve ever been

Dodging reefs and underwater green

I’ll need to breathe eventually

I think

Then she kisses me

I breathe

Two surprises in one 

I think

And then I speak

What the fuck?! Haha

Where are you taking me?

I dare to ask

As we dive deeper into a ravine

Aren’t you going to thank me?

She laughs

Lying me down on the bottom of the sea

And pointing up at the most magnificent thing I’ve ever seen

The ravine

Teeming with fluorescent life

From above, it is all invisible

From below, every little thing glows

Molten maroon shrooms brewing improvised hues

Radiant beings displaying never-before-seen gradients

Plantlife pulsating plasma colors

Creatures featuring evolution's greatest scripture

Thank you

I told her

And to wonder

Where we’d be if the sea hadn’t brought us together

Take me back

There’s something I want to show you

Do you trust me?

I ask

She nods 

I tell her Hang on to me 

Then I carry her out of the sea and onto the beach

Dodging my brothers and into the trees

They’ll kill me if they see me

She duly warns me

A risk we’re both willing to take, I say

And with her sea green eyes she says touché 

I haul her weight

As determined as I’ve ever been

To not fall to my knees

To stand tall like the trees

I hold her tight

My arms burn

The muddy forest floor churns

It grips my feet, it drags with might

Pull away from the ground!

Towards the Moonlight!

Seeping through leaves, holding me

Draped across my chest, weeping for me

Between the trees and over the boulders

I climb benign between two species 

Smoulders on either side

Together we tear the line

She listens in the foreign forest

Its nightly creatures stirring

Chirping

Hearing sounds she's never heard before

Sweating from every pore

I’ll need water soon 

I hear her think

And with a wink

I step off the edge

Her in hand

Falling towards the reflected moon

And together

We crash

Above is a splash

Below, between two sets of eyes

There’s a glow

Oh so real slow

Drifting in close

When an uncontrolled woah bubbles out

I’ve never fallen through the air before

Nor have I tasted such fresh water 

Such sonder!

And to wonder 

Where we’d be if the sea hadn’t brought us together 

That I think we already know 

But soon we’ll have to go

Oh I know, I don’t want to go though 

That’s too bad, I’m your foe

What is this place? She asks

Changing the conversation 

Won’t you show me your grace? I laugh 

All I needed was an invitation 

And with that we kiss

As if nothing were amiss

Tsk

Tsk

We were not alone

My brothers woke to find me not at home

And with a sharpened stone 

On the end of a limb 

My brothers decided 

We should atone

The stone tore apart our hearts

The limb staking us sternum to sternum

Our lips parted

The pain started

Our posture contorted 

Our weight no longer supported

And with that we crash

One final time

Remembering our short-lived, shared past

Splash

The water welcomes us

Pulling us in

Holding us tighter, ever mightier 

Allowing us to feel lighter than light 

And then we die

Oh but our blood

Running thin in the swirling water

Soon becomes the river

And with the helping hand of the sun

Soon becomes the rain

Finally, Looked down on with the eye of the moon

We become the sea 

By Jacob James Grigware