They found each other,
across a reefer smoke filled room with loud music
inhabited by souls needing fixing.
He was a social drunk, looking for a cause and
she was a drunken damsel in distress.
In the reefer smoked filled rooms with loud music she was known
as Mermaid because she drank herself into her drink
but this man saw her as his Mermaid,
a delicate being tangled in the nets of heartless men

He sobered up so he could tend her fragile frame,
feeding her, nursing her to near sobriety.
She would smile and then he smile.
They found in each other that elusive thing that fairy tales are made of…
They found make believe.

 

Janet Cormier is a painter, writes prose and poetry, and performs comedy. JC prefers different and original over pretty. She loves collecting stuff, but cleaning not so much. Janet also talks to strangers…a lot. Her column appears regularly in Oddball Magazine.