Sea Baby

She said she was a sea baby
born on land, given to her father to mother
until her gills formed,
and she was strong enough
to live in the sea and return to her mother.

I smiled, took it with a pinch of sea water
until she showed me her neck,
the flaps flat to her skin,
then she took my hand,
and led me to the dunes
by the light of the moon.

She returned some months later
a tiny squirming form in her arms,
mother her, she said, until she is ready.