no
I will not
be your princess
no matter how you layer me
in silks and pearls
no matter the finery of your tailors
these gowns will never fit
this strange body that binds my soul

by dark magic and obstinance
you've skinned me of scales
split my tail into legs
reminded me repeatedly
that because of you
I can never again
survive the stormy brine

yet the sea calls me
its brutal roar preferable
to your dulcet tones

you think to lock
me in the corsets
of your effusive adjectives
as if your words and cakes
and brushed velveteen
will anchor me to these stones
wean me of the temptation
of the waves

you're wrong

I have taught myself
to read your grimoires
by the light of my old friend
the moon
I seek ways to become
as I once was

and if that fails
if I must flee from you
into the deep
so be it

the water that may
fill my lungs
will be heavy, that is true
but if I stay on dry land
the burden of your
fantasy
will drown me slow and sure

whether the waters
rot me amid the sandy deep
or cast me upon foreign shores

I will abide
by the ocean's callous truth
for it is what I live by
even now:
I am meat, bone, and soul
no more
no less
this jeweled crown upon my brow
mere jetsam

© 2024 Beth Cato