The sailor and the sea

When you let go of love,
remember the story of the man
who would love a mermaid, and
the mermaid who, in love
with this man from a strange land,
chose to give up who she was meant to be.

In this story, they don’t end up together.
In this story, she realizes
land isn't her home, that
the air here chokes her with
every breath she takes. He realizes
he can’t hold onto his lover too.
That she was part water and part magic,
all of which slips through
human fingers too fast.

That’s how you need to
let go: slowly but surely.
Don’t go looking for a
rebound who looks just
like them, who reminds
you of them so much, that
you cry out their names in
the middle of making love.

Some lovers are like the waves
which come and leave and when
they come back again they are strangers.

The sailor and the sea

Accept this unfamiliarity.
Imagine being the sailor, whose earth
was 75 per cent ocean.

Imagine leaving it all behind,
for his sake, as well as the sake
of the woman now turning blurry
in his memories.
If he can, so can you.
If he can, so can you.