Only

She whispers in the summer breeze,
and speaks in the wind
that blows from over the sea.
She is the sound of the sound of thunder,
the echo of the echo of the echo.
Hear her dripping down the cavern walls
(Yes, she drips along the cavern walls.)
like beading sweat on a giant's belly.
Hear her whisper in the summer breeze
that blows from over the sea.

What works within the washing waves?
Only water.
What sands drip through the glass of time?
Only sand.

When I was a boy,
I knocked over a privacy fence
to play with the children on the other side.
When I was a boy,
I didn't believe anything would happen
when the teacher mixed baking soda and vinegar.
When I was a boy,
I was not very well-informed
about theories of operant conditioning.
I didn't understand why I was wrong.

What works within the washing waves?
Only water.
What sands drip through the glass of time?
Only sand.

Still she whispers in the summer breeze.
Still she speaks in the wind
that blows from over the sea.
(Flip the switch and the light comes on.)
She is free, independent, strong,
and she echoes where the mermaids
comb their hair with fishbones
and sing from caverns on the sandy beach.
See the fence around the sandy beach?
(It's nothing a little Prozac won't help.)

What works within the washing waves?
Only water.
What sands drip through the glass of time?
Only sand.

Hear the sound of the sound of thunder.
Feel the echo of the echo of the echo.
(Tell me, how does that make you feel?)
The mermaid lies in the sand like a beached whale,
But, oh! Isn't her hair perfect?
(On, off, on, off...)
When the sun sets the echoes stop.
Why do the echoes stop when the sun sets?
Leaving only water.
Leaving only sand.

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(Photo credit: "Mermaid" from Cyberesque on flickr)