Above The Frozen Sea
The sea was frozen from the shore to somewhere beyond the horizon, as far out as anyone dared to tread. The whole town came out to see. It was like a dream. In years to come no one would be believed when they spoke of it.
Some walked timidly on the ice, some ran, slid, spun, others still skated up and down, around and around, pirouettes and arabesques, smiles to the crowd, kisses, applause.
Behind a wave of ice, out beyond the headland, in a world entirely of their own, Oya and Anna slid into each others arms. Nothing could keep them apart.
The Frozen Sea Itself
Not flat like a frozen lake, but undulating, like the gently rolling curves of some furrowed hillside. The ice groans and creaks, moans and sighs. But it does not move.
The philosophers amongst us wonder, Is a wave still a wave when it’s been frozen in place?
Below The Frozen Sea
For a mermaid there is no loneliness like days spent swimming beneath frozen seas. The footsteps above sound like explosions from some distant war, the scrape of skates against ice like tortured screams.
The sea itself seems smaller, darker, the sky now a roof, the sun as dull as the moon, her home reduced from its limitless splendour to this dismal claustrophobic cave.
The mermaid sings and sings, weeps and wails, but no one can hear. On days like today, not even the gulls return her calls.
___________
Notes:
1. Written between May 14th and May 25th, 2021
__________