The Mermaid

Go dear children, go away
Down and away below
Where the salt tides seaward flow

That way, that way.
Do not call me before you go
Your voices I will forever know
I would hear you with my mother’s ear
My children’s voices who are dear!

It was yesterday
When my husband and children heard the bells
When music came their way
Yes, it was yesterday.

Also, it was yesterday
I left my family to go and pray
My merman said:
His heart went with me.

My family gazed in the little gray church
They said: My dear, come here.
But no, I never gave them a look
My eyes were glued to the Holy Book.

I sit at my wheel
And sing joyfully, O joy, O joy
I spin and spin
Then steal to the window and look at the sand
And start to cry
And sigh and sigh.

-Karma 1983'