Page 107 of Eternally Yours


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and climb onto the seawall

nothing

but a silhouette

against the chilled blue.

They listen for the song coming from the curled shell around my neck. They think they can understand it, the language of echoing waves. They’re almost sure it’s whispering a warning, that I’m equal parts salt and sorceress.

They fear me the same way they shudder at ghost stories, or the sound of wind tearing through an attic.

They like fearing me.

It gives them something to do.

they look for

the silver escamas

on my body,

the moment

of them vanishing.

they all swear they’ve seen it, iridescent scales

disappearing off my legs like soap bubbles,

evaporating with the salt water.

once the scales are gone,

so are the last signs

of my mermaid tail,

the one I grow

every time

I return to the ocean

and lose every time

I leave it.

I know what they call me when they see me, walking through the dark from the beach and into town, salt water dripping down my body and onto the sidewalks.

I know

what they say

as they follow

my uneasy steps

along the seawall,