Piper
Come now children, down to the river
Your family waits for you there in the waves
You’ve heard them calling; I merely deliver
They’re dying to see you, they told me to say
The music I play on my pipe, do you like it?
A tune that’s been passed down from days of old
You’ve heard it somewhere before you think, lad?
Well sailors will sing it sometimes I am told
My boy, your eyes they look so familiar
And something about the corner of mouth
May I say you have a look of my sister,
Maybe you’ve seen her round and about?
She once would dance on the sand on the beaches
Under moonlight, but that was back in her youth
I think she acquired a job at the manor
We’ve not spoke in a while, to tell you the truth
My dear have you heard those mysterious tales
Of the seals who sometimes emerge from the drink
And can strip off their animal skins to unveil
Creatures of loveliness – are they true do you think?
Oh your nursemaid would sing you such stories you say
As you lay in your beds on stormy eves
In my childhood our mother would do just the same
Cautionary tales of other men’s greed
It begins, as you know, with a seal
A young pooka who shed her coat on the shore
Each night her exotic physique she’d reveal
Her hair was wild, and dark, much like yours
A noble would view her display in the evenings
Never before had he seen such a dance
Reckless, she possessed a refreshing freedom
His eyes shone with longing as he watched her, entranced
For her beauty, they say, was somewhat bewitching
And though he was married, and against his wifes will
He offered her lodgings and work in the kitchen
If at night, for a time, she would dance for him still
The pooka, I’m told, politely refused
He said, he must have her, whatever the cost
As she tried to retreat, she looked round confused
Her sealskin coat, it appeared, was lost
Reluctantly she followed the rich man home
For humans they cannot live in the sea
Instead of grey blubber, she now wore his wife’s clothes
And he hungrily watched as she danced, so sadly
In the manor next spring, two babes were born
Yet how strange, you would hear the village remark
That the Lady of the house spent last summer abroad
And the children’s hair, so incredibly dark
Now some years passed and the pooka existed
Trapped on the land, in melancholy
Though he tried to capture her heart, she resisted
For it could only ever belong to the sea
And though the man felt joy in his life
The maids sorrow, he could clearly see
And something struck him once said by his wife
“If you love something, set it free”
He went into the attic and found the old chest
Where he’d hidden the sealskin so long ago
He was suddenly filled with overwhelming regret
And remembered his maid dancing free in the shadows
He recalled the delight that had once possessed her
As she flailed her limbs so wild on the sand
He thought he could tame her if only he dressed her
But he can’t truly own her, he could now understand
He went to his room, laid the coat on the bed
Then went off to fetch the young maid
But the first to discover was his wife instead
And here she made the exchange
Neglected for years, the wife had grown bitter
Of the youth and attention the young woman received
The beautiful coat made her eyes bulge and glitter
She wanted it for her self, and so fueled by greed
She switched the sealskin coat with another
She’d constructed from her wardrobe, an elegant costume
The two coats were so similar in texture and colour
Then she hid as the man and maid entered the room
The young pooka discovered what she thought was her skin
Overjoyed she did not wait
To learn in fact the coat was a twin
Instead she grabbed it and left the room with haste
She ran down to the beach, dressed in the coat
Finally knowing that she would be free
But submerged in the water, she began to choke
For humans they cannot live in the sea
She did not understand that the skin was a fake
Heartbroken, she questioned why she could not return home
The young pooka she sank, and the waves did break
And her face became tears and her body sea foam
The ending is different from the one your nurse would recite
In your beds all those years ago?
Well I regret to inform you, my ending is right
But if you could correct it, children, would you do so?
Tell me, how long since your maid disappeared?
How strange you’ve not come to the beach before
I wonder what it was your parents feared
Would happen if you placed your feet on the shore
Come now children, down to the waves
Your true family waits for you, I give you my oath
I do not lead you to watery graves
Though raised on land, you can live in both.
