Mary Bast
Selkie
I had thought by some grave
misdemeanor to be doomed,
live as a selkie alone:
gentle shape-shifting,
uncanny eyes,
sometimes woman,
always mammal and lithe,
from my seal-skin crying
May no harm go with you:
Nar gabh olc ar bith agat.
Every seventh stream
I bask upon the shore,
yours the face I dream
when looking to the sun.
They say if you shed
seven tears at high tide
I will come to you
from Suleskerry,
and you have wept
a wave of poems.
If you coax me to your land,
if I slip off my coat,
will you hold it sweetly?
You, the pulse of my heart:
Ta tusa an chuisle mo chroi.
Mary Bast writes poetry, found poetry, and creative nonfiction. Her poetry chapbook Eeek Love and two found poetry collections – Unmuzzled, Unfettered and Toward the River – are available at Amazon.com. A Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest runner-up, Mary’s work has been published in Bacopa Literary Review, Blue Monday Review, Connotation Press, right hand pointing, Shaking Like a Mountain, Silver Birch Press, Six Minute Magazine, Slow Trains, The Found Poetry Review, The Writing Disorder, Pea River Journal, and Poetry WTF!? She’s also an Enneagram coach; author of seven nonfiction books; and painter of landscapes, waterscapes, and animal portraits.
Selkie
I had thought by some grave
misdemeanor to be doomed,
live as a selkie alone:
gentle shape-shifting,
uncanny eyes,
sometimes woman,
always mammal and lithe,
from my seal-skin crying
May no harm go with you:
Nar gabh olc ar bith agat.
Every seventh stream
I bask upon the shore,
yours the face I dream
when looking to the sun.
They say if you shed
seven tears at high tide
I will come to you
from Suleskerry,
and you have wept
a wave of poems.
If you coax me to your land,
if I slip off my coat,
will you hold it sweetly?
You, the pulse of my heart:
Ta tusa an chuisle mo chroi.
Mary Bast writes poetry, found poetry, and creative nonfiction. Her poetry chapbook Eeek Love and two found poetry collections – Unmuzzled, Unfettered and Toward the River – are available at Amazon.com. A Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest runner-up, Mary’s work has been published in Bacopa Literary Review, Blue Monday Review, Connotation Press, right hand pointing, Shaking Like a Mountain, Silver Birch Press, Six Minute Magazine, Slow Trains, The Found Poetry Review, The Writing Disorder, Pea River Journal, and Poetry WTF!? She’s also an Enneagram coach; author of seven nonfiction books; and painter of landscapes, waterscapes, and animal portraits.