The Siren

She was a siren without gills,
an outcast of the blue;
she had a different set of skills –
a difference she would rue.

She was born both land and sea,
they never understood
who it was that she might be
or why she feared the flood.

They tried to teach her of their ways,
force her to be like them,
then dragged her down beneath the waves –
her life they would condemn.

As dark water filled her lungs
she couldn’t quite believe
the softness of their silver tongues;
they whispered ‘just breathe’.

They didn’t know she needed air,
thought she would be okay;
they wanted to show how much they cared,
and hoped that she would play.

And as her vision began to fade
they dragged her further down;
she felt desperate and afraid,
and  knew that she would drown.

Down they went into the deep
their ignorance made her ill,
taking her to an eternal sleep –
their accidental kill.

Shannon Elise Taylor is a BA Creative Writing student at Sheffield Hallam University. Her mind tends to wander into worlds unknown while her pen makes notes.