Mermaid

By Barry Carter

The blades of grass in her small garden are like cathedrals, this cleaner who dreams about a sphinx that is powerless to clean the desert. This girl mops supermarket floors near shelves of alcohol that are doors, fire exits for those living alone. At the weekend she works in a small coastal hospital, she wipes door handles, covid camouflaged reveals its stripes. Evening tide washes in this girl is like a mermaid caught between two states, her young daughter and black and white cat need feeding, they don't recognise binary states. She walks with her daughter on the beach, waves are like hands of those gone refusing to leave. The ghosts of covid heave on deaths boat, a remarkable young woman looks at the sky and allows clouds to float across her tongue.

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Written Word ‘Soul’ poems