A Mermaid's Longing...

Here is the beautiful Medieval mermaid, long-ago carved onto a pew at Zennor church near my old home in the countryside in Cornwall. I would love to see it again and wander over moors as we used to as children, then taking it all for granted and now longing to appreciate wth adult eyes the expanses of rugged land, granite outcrops and the sea.

Above is a poem written by my Dad some time ago; one that he had actually forgotten about until it rose up from the past, washed up into present consciousness, like an unexpected treasure from the oceans of memory that a long lifetime holds. Happy Father's Day!

I myself had forgotten having mentioned The Forsaken Merman by the Victorian poet Matthew Arnold in one of my early blog posts. This was apparently a poem my grandmother used to recite to her children - one of those being by Dad of course - and it had in turn inspired him to write his own version of the tale, as shown here. PS - The underwater background photo by Vincenzo Di Giorgi on Unsplash

And finally one of my hoards of seashells, which along with sea glass - 'mermaids' tears' - are truly precious finds of such beauty. These are still guarded over by a rather faded, felt mermouse that used to be accompanied by a little collection of land-bound mice dressed in their frounced finery, all of whom I made quite a number of years ago for my children... all slightly worn and ragged now from the seas of time!