angelwalker

Each night in the dim light of the bar The old men laugh and drink some more In the distance they can hear the waves The sea that calls to them so sweetly Tempting, singing, thrashing, salty The old men laugh and ignore her call They can see the red twilight and know her mood Yet the laughter stops and the men grow dim When they see the young lad coming down the street Every night at dusk, he and his machine They take a trip down to the sea He’s going to get electrocuted, one man scoffed Another remarked he should know better and ignore her siren call A third sat grimly no comment at all All glasses rested on tables, all eyes on him Not a sound was heard but the call of the sea Every now and again they would try to stop him But the young lad grinned and said can’t you hear Can’t you hear them? The old men listen, they used to crane their necks to hear But one by one the white and grey heads shake no The young man points, almost feverently The rolling waves by the sea I swear the mermaids wait for me. This used to send the men into a tizzy Laughing and laughing, their roars louder than the sea No such thing son, we would know. Go back to your shop, do business there. Another would call the only mermaid you see is the one you gave me Followed by more uproarious laughter The young man would shrug and urge again By the rolling waves in the sea I swear the mermaids wait for me He would walk down the cobble till it turned to sand Down the sand until it turn to rock Down the rocks until it became slick Onto a small dock where an old boat with a hole rocked back and forth Everyone assumed that it would one day sink and be gone But after every storm it sat there and rocked The young man set down and prepared his machine Plugged the motor in the motor, prepared the needles and pages Once he was settled he turned on one lamp Then he waited, watching the sun sink into the red sky The old men would call it a blood sky He never understood why, his blood was so dark But when he met them, he understood The boat rocked back and forth for almost an hour The sky gone dark, only waves and salt remain The rocks shelter the boat and the light When he hears the rolling waves by the sea The mermaids wait for me… At first some hands, webbed and clawed Dark green eyes peer out from behind dark wet hair She half crawls into the boat Her stomach scrapes the rotten boards Drawing blood, as bright as the sky She stretches out, a claw raised to him She points to her back and he begins For days now he has been creating an art piece on her back The motor hums louder than the sea The ink seeps into dark skin that leaks vermillion blood He dips a towel in the salt water on the side of the boat And rubs it over the roughened skin Looking at the image of flowers cascading her back You’re distracted she notes, her grin shows the fangs she hides It’s those men again he laments Every night they leer at me Well haven’t you told them what waits for you by the sea? Everynight They are fools, they cannot even see with eyes so old The boat rocks more and the waves grown angry Another bursts forth, claws catching the edge of the boat This one heaves herself up to rest on her elbows peering over the edge I like the flowers, but when is it my turn? She questions This time her purples eyes give him shivers The green one turns and hisses, mine first! Purple relents only somewhat. She sinks down into the depths But her eyes and hands remain gripped on the boat edge, making it rock In the rolling waves by the sea Stupid girl the first one mutters She wants a koi fish eating her belly button The man hides a smile as the purple one screeches She shoves the boat aside and dives angrily into the sea The waves rock them back and forth but it does not sink He recovers himself, he hates it when they scream Sirens are sooo dramatic the green one comments Lazily adjusting herself so he can reach further back on her tattoo All night he works and works and works ALl night they come and wait their turns He sits in the rickety boat that wobbles Carefully he works his craft When he’s done they twirl and glee These tattooed mermaids in the sea The rolling waves by the sea I swear the mermaids wait for me