Mermaids and Carp

Meet as mermaids

caught upstream,

in the rivers

running wide,

bisecting America.

Meet as mermaids

with silverfin tails

and shimmering koi scales

in the Mississipi.

We will be the long-haired

swimmers with the carp

as they become reflections

of the clouds.

Meet as mermaids,

the softened silt banks

of middle country,

these two shores,

the yellow sea

flowing, as a great serpent

down, backward sister

of the Nile-

our bodies, soft and bending

with the earth.

Meet as mermaids

with a wicked siren song,

combing our hair on the rocks,

waving to ferries,

missing the tides

and the gulls.

Meet as mermaids

in the crossroads, 

lost from the sea,

silvery tails 

splashing the golden carp.