The Selkie

She came from the west,
That wild girl from the sea.
Smelling of salt water,
She enchanted me.
In her eyes danced
The stars high above
In her voice was always
The soft coo of a dove.

As she shed her sealskin,
We danced 'neath the moon.
As the other ones sang
A low, mournful tune.
Her legs moved almost like
A cool Irish breeze,
With her arms wrapped tight 'round me,
We moved to the sea.

Both cloaked in her sealskin,
We swept through the waves.
Her sweet arms embracing me
As if I was but a babe.
We laid on the floor
Of the ocean so deep.
As her lovely soft voice
Slowly lulled me to sleep.

Her skin, t'was as soft
As water in my hands.
Her hair white as pearls
From faraway lands.
Her sealskin pale
And mottled with brown,
Her face just as lovely
As flowers from the ground.

I soon grew quite weary
Of life under the sea,
For I missed my family
And they surely missed me.
With tears in her eyes,
She bore me back to land.
I left my soul with her
In the palm of her hand.

I have grown old now,
My sight is quite dim.
But I can still see her
If I've but a whim.
It has been many years
Since I wandered the sea.
But if I can but remember
The selkie is with me.