Jenny’s Mermaid
(Written by Simon Barron and Rosalind Brady)
Up on the coast down from the town
Close to the end of the day
Jenny and Grandma are watching the waves
That break on the beach of the bay
'These are the nights' says grandma
'That Mermaids come to the shore
They take off their tails and walk for a while they
Long for land once more'
Jenny was tired from the long day
She was five and three quarters no more
Her birthday prayer was to see these fair
Mermaids swim to the shore
And after the lights were turned out
Moonbeams shone on the floor
She thought she was hearing them sing from the sea 'we
Long for land once more'
She wakes in the small hours out of her dream
Goes to the window and what does she see
There on the beach in the brine and the weed
A woman curled up asleep
Grandma it’s true cries Jenny
As she runs to her bedroom door
A mermaid has come from the sea tonight
Longing for land once more
Down on the beach in the moonlight
The mermaid looked so pale
Battered and bruised and the breaking waves
Had taken her silvery tail
And now they were back at the house somehow
They could see it was jeans that she wore
Jenny spoke to her first and said 'did you
Long for land once more'
They made up the mermaid a hot drink
Wrapped round her shoulders a towel
Jenny still asking her what is your name
But Grandma says not now
The mermaid stares at the table and says
'You can call me a coward for sure
For when I was swallowing salt water I was
Longing for land once more'
The sun comes up on another day
Like a man coming back from the dead
Granny and mermaid still talking
Jenny asleep in her bed
Sleeping the sleep of a princess
Dimly aware of a war
Dreaming of those who cast adrift
Long for land once more