Rusalochka

For I find myself captivated by the original story of The Little Mermaid—a young girl, bound to the sea, whose heart overflowed with love, though it was never truly returned. Her longing for a soul, for something more than what she was given, speaks to a deeper yearning to belong, to feel whole, and to experience love in its purest form. She wishes for heaven, for a life beyond the tides, even when it means sacrificing everything she knows. Her story is a bittersweet reflection on love, sacrifice, and the eternal search for belonging.

Beneath the waves, where the deep tides roll,

I was born without a human soul.

My kin rejoiced in our watery keep,

Content with the ocean's eternal sweep.

But I, a dreamer, yearned for the skies,

For the sunlight's kiss and the world's replies.

My sisters spoke of the shore with disdain,

Yet my heart sang an unbroken refrain.

One fateful day, when the storm did roar,

I found you, prince, near death on the shore.

Your beauty unmatched, so bold, so rare,

I saved you, cradling your golden hair.

But when your eyes opened, searching the sand,

You reached for another’s outstretched hand.

I watched in silence, my truth untold,

My love a secret, too shy, too bold.

I sought my grandmother, wise and old,

And learned of heaven, of souls and gold.

"Humans ascend to heaven; mermaids dissolve,"

Yet in my heart, a wish did evolve.

To dance in your world, to walk where you tread,

To leave the sea and its cold, endless bed.

I struck a bargain, a desperate plea,

And gave my most valuable possession, my voice, to the witch of the sea.

With legs of pain and a silent tongue,

I rose to the world where songs are sung.

Before you, I stood, my heart ablaze,

Hoping your eyes might mirror my gaze.

Yet no spark lit, no memory stirred;

You saw me as naught but a passing word.

You’d crowned another, your savior and bride,

While I, love-laden, withered inside.

I watched as you wed with tears on my face,

A fleeting ghost in your joyous space.

Though agony tore my soul apart,

I smiled through the shatter of my heart.

I watched, and still, my love didn’t wane,

I smiled at your joy, despite my pain.

For love, I knew, was meant to be free,

Even if it didn’t belong to me.

So, as I began to fade from your sight,

I wept with a smile, in the soft moonlight.

The witch had said if you didn't marry me,

I would die and I knew my time was up.

I leapt into the sea, my eternal home,

My essence forever gone, lost and alone.

Without a soul, my consciousness was destined to vanish,

My fate set and sown,

I loved you, my prince, though never my own.

No heaven awaited, no soul to reclaim,

Only the waves whispering my name.

And as I became but the ocean’s foam,

I accepted the truth—I was never your home.

For I was never meant to stay,

I was never your destiny, just lost in the sway—

Always just sea foam in the endless oceans, forever to roam.

© 2025 Inaba Tarek