Mermaids In A Lake Poem by Jan Oskar Hansen

Mermaids in a lake


It is hot today I try to write
words are like wet cement in a ditch
covering empty cola cans thrown from cars
by careless drivers who care not for nature.
ABC full stop.
I stood by the entrance in the shade someone
asked if I was the porter, I smiled benignly
didn´t get upset after all I´m working class.
Had they asked me if I was the director
I might have been less inclined to smile.
I miss my home it is near a forest with a lake
mermaids swim there and have proper feet.
Once I swam with them a dream come true
when it is winter, and the lake is like an ice rink
I skate around and around until I get dizzy and fall
into a trance the dream of mermaids
revive me. I walk home in silence.