The Mermaids

Let the others win the contest
for the last glimpse of God.

I wonder when they’ll notice
I’ve stopped swimming,
the mermaids
circling below,
their eyes as sharp as their smiles
as they glide their hands over their polished bodies,
barely cloaked in the depths.

Thrashing rock to rock

Take share in the pain and you will hurt no more, 
they promise

These waves can rock you to sleep
for all eternity,
but you’ll never dream
under empty sky;
Leave your eyes beneath the glaring sun,
there’s nothing to guard
down here

Only dead things float:
to live means to break
contact
with the surface.