selkie song
as if the ocean forgets everything we once were.
I’ve been in a bit of drought when it comes to energy, inspiration, and just general creativity levels, so I decided to look at my list of concepts I want to write about. The word that caught my eye from this list was “selkie.” Selkies are mythological creatures that can shapeshift between their seal and human forms by removing or putting on seal skin. For a bit more in-depth read you can read the Folklore Scotland page on selkies or check out the Wikipedia entry. I also highly recommend the book Selkie by Nataly Gruender. I wanted this poem to center around the themes of identity, transformation as loss, and (literally) clinging to past selves so hard we drown while also adhering to the mythic concept of selkies.
selkie song
tide turns over tide
& i peel back
the layers of
myself
i wish to forget.
raw skin burns
under the sting of
seasalt flushing
into open wounds.
yet nothing hurts
quite like the truth:
i can only be
so much of myself
at one time.
it’s foolish,
isn’t it?
the belief that
one must give
something up
in order to become
someone else.
as if the ocean
forgets
everything we
once were.
adorned in moonlight,
i dance free
but empty.
springtide glitters
then recedes
into deep nothingness
and i cannot ignore
its pull
no matter how sweet
the shore.
when the milky blue sky
fades to an
inky black,
my wind-whipped hair
waves like a
flag of surrender.
i know that i
will only ever
be half
of an
entire whole.
with a heart
torn in two,
which half
do i save?
the sea
whispers
"this one.”
i clutch
shed skin
to my chest
before i
vanish into
the depths
forever.
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