Mermaid

Of Syllaships

And reading lists

It is safe to say a paperback

Weighing more than a water bottle

Is not a beach read,

But an odyssey.

She sweats sentences

As the sun rises to its zenith

Heating her barnacled bench. 

The ocean scales her body cobalt,

Bellbottom jeans make a mermaid’s tail

Slapping the sea instead of laughing.

The sea is salt and plot

More than reader response theory

Thoughtless she slips into the water:

Tank top, tale and all…