Dissolving Into Foam

Three hundred years, three eons, an age of servitude
Trying to earn my immortal soul
Ethereal beings floating on air
Feeling the warmth of the sun
A melody unheard, a beauty unseen
Each smile I give – lessens my burden
Each tear I shed – one too many
Striving for eternal life,
My atonement starts the day
I dissolve into foam
And cease to exist...

When I was a little girl, the fairy tale character I was most impressed by - was "the little mermaid", so much so that even after so many years, my online persona mostly has been this pic of a mermaid smiling about a secret which only she seems to share! The Little Mermaid or Poseidon's child - for what else would a sea creature be than the beloved child of the Sea God?

I used to hate the story of "the little mermaid" and I used to love it at the same time. The story of a girl so much in love that she gave up her life as she knew, not once but twice, for a guy who never realized her worth - left me feeling sad and proud of the little mermaid. My bedtime story of "the little mermaid" ended with a line which said that after her death the little mermaid becomes "a spirit of the air, guiding and protecting lovers all over the world".

Subsequent elaborate versions of "The Little Mermaid" had Hans Christian Andersen stating that at the end of the story when "the little mermaid" jumps into the sea, she dissolves into foam and becomes one of the "daughters of air" striving for an immortal soul. Each daughter of air has to perform three hundred years of good deeds before being considered for eternity. Every good deed by them reduces their service period by a year whereas every bad deed that they do makes them shed tears. And each tear that they shed makes their service period increase by a day.

This small poem is dedicated to "the little mermaid" who filled me with more dreams and aspirations and longings than any fairy tale I heard.

"I thought love was only true in fairy tales, meant for someone else but not for me
Love was out to get to me, that's the way it seems. Disappointment haunted all my dreams"