A Harmony of Water and Weald by Dove Cooper

Author:Dove Cooper
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Kraken Collective
Published: 2021-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

The Nature of Our Relationship

It has been a long time

Since I have been in the sea. :/

On the sea, really.

After much packing

And planning and pacing

We were ready to set sail

And travel to my prince’s kingdom.

The sea is not so treacherous now.

I stand at the bow of the ship,

Looking at the quiet sea.

It’s funny. I’ve never thought

Of the sea as quiet before.

It is always filled with life.

It makes me uncomfortable

To think of how easy it is

To forget what life is like

Under the glassy surface. :(

To think how easy it is

To think about the sea

As a glassy surface even when

It is clearly not glass-still.

I wonder if I will see my sisters.

If they know that I am travelling

To – through – their home, just for a little while.

My prince and princess are asleep.

If my sisters are out in the sea tonight,

I will not be able to see them.

There is barely even starlight.

I have come every night

Since we left port. ^_^

I think…

I think… If my sisters come,

The Sea Witch will have told them.

And if she told them, then

She would likely wake me.

I think.

I hope. ^_^;

Still, I come out here,

To watch the sea as the ship

Cuts through it

And the night light reflects off it.

No sound but the wood cutting through

The water and the waves lapping against

The ship and in the distance.

It is peaceful. ^_^

But I come for my sisters.

If they know I am here,

I want them to know that I came

For them. Waited, for them.

Looked into the waves for them. ^_^

My prince and princess do not

Remark on my behaviour.

I don’t know if it is because they

Do not know how, what, to ask

Or because they know this is something

That I must do alone.

I don’t know how I feel about that. :/

They are my family too.

I don’t know how many nights

I wait on the deck, woollen shawl

Wrapped around my shoulders

Because it is still too cold

For me to be comfortable.

There is no moon the night

The Sea Witch calls to me.

It is just at the moment

When I had wanted to turn

To leave and go to sleep.

Instead it looks like I

Have turned because she called

And I gasp when my eyes

Understand what I am seeing.

My sisters! :O

They are more now

Some only young.

They must have been born

After I left. I do not know them

And they do not seem to understand

Why they are here.

But soon they are exploring the deck

And seem content enough.

Perhaps later I can tell them

About the dangers of ships. ^_^

The sisters who remain

Are the sisters I have left.

One of them hisses when

I move forward to hug them

And I freeze.

We are no longer the same

They and I.

It feels… I do not want to think

About how it feels. Perhaps later

When I am alone.

We do not speak,

My sisters and I.

I see them.

Some more scarred

Than when I was still

One of them.

Three of my sisters are

Not among them.

Quietly, the Sea Witch

Explains that they died.

I cry salt tears that

My sisters do not understand.

One of the smaller ones

Slithers over to me

And asks what I am doing.

I try to tell her,

Am grateful the Sea Witch

Explains it so well.

I think she does.

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