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Overheard in a Tower Block
POEMS
Created: 25th April, 2018

The Mermaid Queen

My mother, The Mermaid Queen, wept tiny pearl tears.

For weeks, for months, she cried through the seasons.

High-tide storm-sobbing, would it last for years?

Her sadness felt endless, beyond all reason.

 

Mermaids cry puddles, lakes and even streams.

My mother’s wailed river flooded our home.

She cried in the night, she cried in my dreams,

no comfort could reach her floating throne.

 

I swim in her blues with webbed feet and hands,

my mind feels sodden like earth after rain,

my feelings are scattered like windswept sands.

I wonder how long I will feel this pain.

 

To go feels wrong, to stay makes me feel sad.

I want to see my mum and I want to see my dad.

 

 

© Joseph Coelho from Overheard in a Tower Block (Otter-Barry Books)

 

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