END OF THE WORLD WITH A MERMAID
Lover of water who swims in myths of
mankind not in realities of attraction
between moon and sun: the tide will
wash sand-steps to invisibility. And
you will plunge or drink or both.
Your land-legs, once a marvelous tale
of failed geography. Your last gasp for
air will not be unlike ours: A half-human
hope for uncomplicated darkness.
And as the shame of lethargy
blankets the post-historic earth, even as
emptiness bleeds out and our sincere
apologies transform into fireballs and
tumbleweeds, the drum of the earth
may finally beat to an urgency of kindness
that civilization failed to provide it.
Jeanne Henry is a New York City-based Poet. Her work has appeared in Prick of the Spindle, Banango Street, The Found Poetry Review and other literary journals. She is currently working on her first full-length collection of poetry.
