All Things Mermaid

I've always had a thing for mermaids, for fish, for anything to do with the ocean, really. It's ironic because I have lived in Utah my entire life, and have only been to the beach a handful of times.

Seeing the ocean always overwhelms me. You know how some people are afraid of heights, because they're afraid they'll lose control of their wits and bail over the edge of a building? It's like that with the sea--I walk on the beach deep in thought, concentrating hard on not flying into the water and paddling out to nowhere.

I remember reading in my grandpa's old copy of Oxford Classic Poetry a poem by Matthew Arnold, telling the story of a woman who marries a merman, has a family with him, and lives under the sea... Until she hears the church bells ringing on Easter morning and rushes back to the human world, abandoning her nautical home.