Thursday, July 21, 2011

The Mermaid's Gift


Memories of waves and seaside bliss
Spiral in the mermaid’s gift.


*** *** ***

There's a heat wave going on here, and it makes me nostalgic for summer outings to the beach.

(I'm the one with the bucket)

These days, though, I prefer to visit the beach off-season, when I can poke around in tidepools and search for sea-brought treasures without all the hoopla of the "Jersey Shore." But even now, many years after that photo was taken, I am still enchanted by the notion of merfolk.

Perhaps part of the Mermaid's Gift is a lingering sense of wonder, the belief in something *other* that swims in a sea of possibilities, the knowledge that folk and fairy tales are more than just words on a page meant for children only.

Fairy tales follow us into adulthood, shape-shifting as our paths broaden, marking the sea-changes of our lives. Recently one of my short stories that explores what happens beyond the "happily ever after" has gone up online. I wrote it with a specific piece of Parrish Relics jewelry in mind, and you can see both the gorgeous necklace and the tale by clicking *here.*

6 comments:

  1. Oh how I'd like to be swimming in the cool ocean right now! And nice spiral shell.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Valerianna ~ I so second that wish for a sea-breeze and a swim!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh my Donna, i love the words of your tale, beautiful indeed. Mermaids i love too, living close to the sea as i do they hold such a fascination for me & seem to oft appear in my work without my meaning them too ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Donna, I followed the link to your beautiful story - thank you.
    I love the idea of pairing your words to a piece of jewelry by Parish Relics. The result is just wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ruthie ~ Thank you! I can understand the fascination with mermaids ~ they tend to pop up in my work as well. I have a whole file folder just for merfolk prose and poems. Oh, to live by the sea! Maybe you'll spot one someday :~)

    Lynn ~ It's like art dominos... one thing leads to another :~) It's similar to the creative blog community, where inspiration is abundant!

    Tammie ~ Cool breezes are much needed! Heat index of 114 today :( Thanks for the wishes!

    ReplyDelete