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Dream of the Unambitious Mermaid - Romanza

from The Garden of Terrors and Delights by The Starry Eyes

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Original poem by Cleveland Wall, music by Anonymous, performed by Michael Wall.

lyrics

Dream of the Unambitious Mermaid

My hopeless crush once asked me
“What do you dream of becoming?”
I had to pause to think it over.
I do a lot of dreaming; which,
I pondered, was my favorite?
“A mermaid in a deserted lake,”
I answered and was taken aback
when he burst out laughing.
“You can’t become a mermaid!”
he said, as if I didn’t know that.
But what is the point of dreaming
about the possible? That’s more like
planning, isn’t it? “Oh, you mean
what do I plan on becoming,”
I said. I had no idea. I reckoned
I’d tend bar till I saved up enough
to travel, then travel till I ran
out of money, then tend bar…
and my plan might have worked, too,
had I not fallen in love. Anyway,
after that, my crush did not believe
I wanted him or anyone.
He spun my mermaid wish
into a siren’s tale, where I’d lure
unwary boys into my waters
and drown them, fashion their bones
into furnishings for my underwater
lair. But I do not crave a bone
settee or taboret or chandelier,
however elegant. I just want to swim
in the moonlight filtering down
through lily pads and duck weed—
swim and sing and comb my long,
long and ever-tangled hair.

credits

from The Garden of Terrors and Delights, released January 11, 2020
Voice: Cleveland Wall; guitar: Michael Wall. Recorded at Studio 11 in Bethlehem, PA. Sound engineer: Justin Merritt. Cover art: William Christine.

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The Starry Eyes Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

The Starry Eyes combine original poems with classical guitar repertoire for a strangely compelling dance in which the two pieces waver between convergence and juxtaposition. Guitarist Michael Wall and poet Cleveland Wall have been performing together since 2011. ... more

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