Mermaid

Her soul was salt, her eyes
lit from deep within.
Her hair curled like shells,
stars crusted her ears.

One night the city boy drank
his fill of life, he was hungry
he was swollen with pain,
the ocean would heal him the ocean
would fill him.

He drove to Venice Beach
and ran beyond the sugar
lights of the boardwalk,
the black silk water
welcomed him.

She saw him from below,
a silhouette of boyish
desperation, saw his hunger
like an open wound.

Smooth skin on the wet sand,
her hair on his face,
salt drips in his mouth, she
left him gasping for more, and yet
satisfied.