Damian Balassone, ‘The Mormon and the Mermaid’

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Wounded and winded
by the wind and the waves,
he scratches her name in the sand,
her love is rescinded,
she hides in the caves
where the water caresses the land;
he sings her name in spite of his distress,
and fashions beauty out of loneliness.

*****

Damian Balassone writes: “With regards to the poem, I have no connection to either Mormons or mermaids – it’s about polar opposites.  I think the last line came first.  He doesn’t get the girl, but he gets the poem.”

‘The Mormon and the Mermaid’ was first published in the Shot Glass Journal.

Damian Balassone is the author of four books, including the forthcoming collection of short poems and epigrams Love is a Weird Cat and the children’s book Here, Bear and Everywhere. You can read more here.

“the Other Side of the Tunnel” by ihave3kids is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

1 thought on “Damian Balassone, ‘The Mormon and the Mermaid’”

  1. mikerotheatre's avatarmikerotheatre

    From Mormon to merman

    is such a short shift

    but if you confess it

    nobody will bless it

    or give you shrift

    but only a sermon

    and a ban none will lift…

    so wait for the waves

    while all Utah raves

    you can’t heal the rift

    or ever go back

    so gather bladder-wrack

    and have some fun

    popping its bubbles

    as if they were your troubles

    burst and gone one by one

    Liked by 2 people

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