A touch of salt

I was a mermaid, once

riding the currents

into the whirling foams

erupting around the shell of Venus.

Her seaweed hair

would entangle my fins

and those of my sisters;

a dance of oasis floods

gathering in the night.

A painting of Venus

Opening up like a cracked

walnut shell

yearning to peek at the world,

you see a flash of blue satin

dance across the sky.

Tides rise high

and crash

with soft flecks

against your cheek,

staining your skin

with rainbows.

Under your feet

the earth shifts

to accommodate your scent.

It has known you

always,

but now

you have changed.

It must know you again.