I have seen where mermaids live
Where dolphins play, and the winds rest
And porpoises with their laughing faces
Mock my slow and clumsy boat
Are they an honor guard:
A troop of clowns?
Do they smile in sympathy
Pity me my awkward legs,
And leaping, dart awayI remember when my sea was bright
With sun-flung jewels
On a thousand days
And silver laced or velvet black those nights
The moon was magic unexplored:
The stars unnamed by me
Magic sentinels to dreams
And nightwatch companyWhen I go back, if there should be
Someone lonely, missing me
Don't search along some fog-cold shore
But in a warmer sea
In crashing waves, and wind-tossed foam
And clear blue water, and siren songAnd if you call, perhaps I'll hear
But never an answer give--
For they do have rules, of a sort,
In that sunny place
Where mermaids live.Nicky Federico
Copyright 2/1/2001Used with permission from her family.
This poem was written when Nicky was
dying of cancer and reflects her great love
of the sea. She was the first woman fisherman
and scuba diver on the West Coast. A tall,
beautiful blonde, she was graceful from
studying ballet. She also had a beautiful
coloruta soprano voice (a soprano so high
that the voice can break glasses). Her daughter,
Penny, drew the accomanying mermaid.Her family emphatically requests that this
poem not be reproduced or copied in any way
out of respect for her privacy. Honor this last
request, please. This poem is protected by
Copyright laws. Email me before you are tempted
and any requests will be passed on to the family.Music: Free Bird by Lynard Skynard
