Šëkoj

Three thousand thirty years ago
A mermaid dwelt on Dweffir Reef
Known to all and loathed by none
Called by dolphins “Iki-uit-uit”
By jellyfish, “Hu-hufala”
“Šëkoj” in the human tongues.

Šëkoj danced among the corals
Cavorted with the horseshoe crabs
Sweetly shimmied with the shad
Dug hunks of dirt with dugongs
Slept in seaweed, dozed in kelp.


But after such a frolicfest
Her hair became a matted nest
Of tiny uninvited guests
Stinging mites and parasites
Lice the size of grains of rice

Burrowing baby barnacles
Concatenations of crabs
Obtuse oval anemone eggs
Showy, shiny –shelled shrimp
Hungry hopeful ropes of salps.

Her fingers wrangled with the tangle
But the knots were not unknotted
Snags and snarls marred her curls
But mermaid hair is live and feeling
It fears and shuns the knives and scissors.

Called the mermaid to the Deep Ones
Called to her ancestral parents
In the oceanmother tongue
Voice of churning waves and gurgles
Slips and sloshes, wishes, washes.

“O Ilmatar, Oceanmother
O Bearded Straasha, in your cave
Lend me now advice and succor
About these tangled snarled strands
How may I quash this nappy loaf?”

“Šëkoj,” said her patient mother
“Your hair is perfect in appearance
You don’t need to preen or primp
Keep for friends those who revere you
Ignore the hollow shallow masses.”

Šëkoj vented her vexation
“This is not for friends or masses!
Wordy balms on my frustration
Do not cure the situation
Nor rid me of my cake of dreds.

Said Straasha from his crusty cave
“Then you must go on journey brave
To apply techniques and tools
To unravel, unknot, unknit
This hairy mess upon your crown.

Go then, to the Pacific Plains
Where deep rivers flow together
Where earthen roots bind rocks fast
To the glowing chthonian vents
Spraying curling sour sulfur-fumes

In deep caverns within these,
Among platyhelminthes
Live the Ekhinokrinoi
Noble ancient sea-colossi
Relics of Siluria.”

Ilmatar, the Oceanmother
Said “Seek that kind abyssal race
I will let them know you’re coming
They will host a feast of plenty
You will be the guest of honor.”

Šëkoj prepared for travel
Sharpened her fins, sponged her gills
Stretched her arms and flapped her tail
Then she bid the reef farewell
And set off to the Pacific Plains.

She swam one day, swam another
Currents carried her on the third
To the oceanic plain
Down to the abysmal canyons
To the deepest of deep places

In the cold and crushing darkness
Like a porpoise full of purpose
She swam with supple strength and sleekness
Toward the vitriolic glow
Toward the warmth below the waves.

Šëkoj found a golden gateway
Cavern carved by snail-tusks
Portal to a porous palace.
In the doorway sat a watcher
Ekhinokrinoi gate-guard.

No head nor eyes could Šëkoj see
Arms asway like breezy branches
Legs like burly knotgnarled roots
Trunkless tree, all leaves and buttress
Cup of hands and dome of feet.

It spoke to her in ocean language
So deep and plain her teeth could hear
Spleen and kidneys understood.
“Welcome, friend, to our abode
Enter now our humble hovel.”

Stout stilts stirring, it led her in
Through labyrinthine oystered cloisters
Constellations of sea-stars
Tubewormed hot cloacal grottoes
To a hall of lofty splendor.

They sat in gem-encrusted alcoves
Splendid Ekhinokrinoi
Ancient giants, wise and noble
Many-limbed with glowing souls
Perched on lustrous thrones of pearl.


The eldest reached an arm out to her
Took her hand into its own
Extended psychic tentacles
Spoke directly to her cells
In the very voice of life.

“Welcome, warm Shallows-dweller,
Welcome, backboned voyager
We know you and know your line
Know your mothers, know your sisters
Know your daughters not yet born.

We affirm the bond between us
And will gladly lend you succor
Help you with your tangle-problem
But first, join us for a feast
Incorporate our tasty chow.”

They sat around a whalebone table
Piled high with choice sea-treats
Spicy suction-cups of squid
Clams sautéed in sea-grape wine
Seahorse eggs with hagfish slime.

Briny bitter barnacle paste
Upon cold soused sea-pig’s face
Callipash and calipee
Paté of gravid seal-flea
And pycnogonid fricassee.

Šëkoj ate more than her fill
Though some dishes made her ill
Especially the brains of krill.
Her hosts retreated to their thrones
And combed their arms with herringbones.

The eldest Ekhinocrinoi
Extended ropy arm again
Spread the comblike hand before her
Wiggled the small bony teethtines
And said “This will be your comb.”

The hand detached then from the arm
Stiff-toothed comb, so slightly curved
Šëkoj touched it gingerly
Then pulled the hand-comb through her hair
Pulled the tool through the tangles.

Her visitors decamped in dozens
When she served her comb-eviction
Untangled kelpy knots and snarls
Unmade the nests and mini middens
Freed each strand from tiny tenants.

Her hosts detached a dozen hand-combs
And told her to take them all.
“Give one to your patient mother
To your sisters and your cousins
To your daughters when they come.

“If you need more, we will send them
Via octopus and squid
From our deep abyss abode
Call us with the ancient cantrip
Utter these ensorcelled words:

Ouagadougou Utnapishman
Puying geen blah-meuk mai dai
Saya makan ubur ubur
Minun täyttu juustohöylä
Wo de shengri bu kuai lai.

With grateful heart and flowing hair
Šëkoj departed from the depths
Rose in roiling beds of bubbles
To the warm and shallow waters
To the turquoise sun-kissed surface.

She swam one day, swam another,
Currents carried her for a third
Until she reached the reef of Dweffir
Home at last with comb in hand
To frolic with her happy friends.