Camilleon

The sea sirened me

My feet ached dry for too long

In dreams, it claims me back as a birthright

“The princess of the sea,”

My father crowned me

Wild tides cradled my growth

At dawn we’d prepare for the catch

Long arduous labor made by your humor light

At dusk we’d return to our wooden castle

Prosperous in the catch and full of laughter

A wooden crooked table for three,

Her seat left empty, kept still,

A fresh catch of fish we prepared

Our joyous nightly feast for two

Cautioned by palms that swayed untamed

Fiercely, he challenged the too familiar waves

That cursed dawn, I stayed by the shore,
Building sandcastles, fragile and fleeting,

Soon claimed by the unforgiving sea forces
I lay and awaited to meet him ashore.

His traditional timely return was broken

As the light faded, so did my hope,

Tearful, fearful, orphaned, unsure,

The king of the sea betrayed by his tides

I declared war with the sand that raised me

Exiled to the solidified path walked daily

To a kingdom I never belonged

The shore sang its mermaid’s lullaby

Until it victoriously summoned me back

But now with wrinkles around my eyes,

And a few silver hairs on my head

I break down as the sea embraces my feet

I let the sand immerse my bare soul

It soaks my aged mourning

It returns the crown to my stormy hair

“Who am I”

My father whispers through the breeze,

“The princess of the sea returned to her kingdom.”