I lie faded
beached
on sand seasoned with footsteps, crushed tin, gum, weed, a lost slipper, a tube of sunscreen.
Grubby hands turn me over
flicking away the silt of the ocean.
I fall
harshly among the skeletal remains of my own kind
I lie faded.
I was once a mermaid's comb
The sea king's token
I was a half of a whole
A body enclosing soft warm life
I lie faded
forgotten
my jagged edges too sharp for delicate fingers.
The sea will claim me soon
to drown in its dirty emerald depths.
I dream
of a mermaid's laughter and the half that once made me whole
I lie faded.
