Inspired by Sea Nymph, 1978 by Paula Rego
At home she lies slumped, her neck cricked ninety degrees to convey the fact that, after all this time, this daughter of Poseidon has no more fucks to give. Helping sailor after stupid sailor, “no” never meaning no. Being a Nereid isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
This sea nymph has had enough of the male gaze and the bitchery of the gods. She’s earned the right to air her tits, to mismatch her patterns, to don a pair of striped wings because she damn well feels like it.
This sea nymph had had enough of romance. She’s a meat-ankled daughter of the ocean, but neither the gods nor the sailors have ever been kind. You can be everything they say they want and still they fuck your sister.
This sea nymph had had enough of others’ judgement, perceptions. She may appear broken. Neglected. But she is learning to marshal her fury. She has heard Circe’s songs of other lands, other languages. She has collected artefacts: metal keys, glass screens with buttons, plastic cards. She is setting her sights on new horizons.
Tomorrow this sea nymph will ride the back of a dolphin – intelligence, at last – and crest the waves. Tomorrow she will lift her face past Helios and flap her striped wings. Tomorrow, when she’s damn well ready, she will leave this watery realm and claim her new life on land, patriarchy be damned.
