While brooding upon the twilight of the horizon,
Thinking up more rhyme than reason,
Creeping upon the same old shores,
Wandered the lonely Night.

Though creatures may come and go,
The Night spends his thoughts alone,
Spinning tale and song along,
Sending them with the wind.

One eve he lazed on the beach,
And startled by a splashing,
His meditating interrupted,
By none other than a mermaid.

“What’s this!” He thought,
As he watched her in the shallows,
Conversing with the fish,
And bathing by the moonlight.

Never had he seen someone such as she,
So rare, so naive, alone on a deserted beach,
Had she no fear of the creatures of the dark?

Conflicted and awed was he,
Arguing within whether to approach such beauty,
Afraid to scare such an alluring being,
But he must speak to her, lest he never see her again!

“Mermaid…” he spoke.

Gasping she hid behind a sunken boulder.
“Who’s there? A ghost?”

“Not a ghost, have no fear. I am the Night.”

“The Night?” She looked about her.

“Yes, I cover the world in slumber when the sun takes his leave,
But I also wander weaving tale and lyric alike.”

“Really? Lyric?” She swam upon the shore excitedly.
“Tell me something, I do love rhyme.”

So every evening after that till early mornings light,
The mermaid would meet the Night,
And listen to his tale and rhyme,
Always falling to slumber, never hearing an end.

But he did not mind,
He enjoyed every moment,
Watching her sleep in the shallow pools,
Covering her with his deep darkness,
Protecting from any malicious creature who dared.

It had come to this,
He loved her,
Without meaning to,
He loved her,
It could be from the first sight,
He loved her,
It could be that he had always loved her,
Perhaps he had dreamed her into being,
It didn’t matter,
He loved her,
But he didn’t dare tell her.

Every morning,
Before the Night faded from the world for the Day,
He would catch a glimpse of the Mermaid waking,
And he would witness her warm greeting of the Sun.

The Sun,
Whom he saw within her eyes,
Had her heart,
And for this he ached,
For this he knew,
Might never be his,
But he had to try,
To win her with his rhyme,
He had to try.