Creature born of the sea and brine,
fair maiden drowned in beauty—
cascading locks of wind-blown waves,
ringlets as golden as Jason’s fleece.
Eyes—green as Daphne’s laurel leaves—
freeze men in their step and—
unlike the cold stone gaze of the Gorgon—
allow their hearts to skip a beat.
With such an allure—
striking jealousy upon Aphrodite herself—
lips, crimson as the blood in mortal veins,
part, with the kiss of brine,
to utter such a bewitching song—
sweet and smooth like honey,
each velvet note rising with the ocean waves,
more beautiful than the tones of Apollo’s lyre.

Days spent upon seaside stones,
bathing in the glow of Helios’ fiery chariot,
singing melodies—flowing, seeking, searching
for a listening ear to caress,
for a beating heart to seduce.
No mortal man could ever seek to deny or resist
that beguiling tune,
and each, captivated,
resolved to win the hand
of the creature that made even the Muses covetous.
Delightedly drowning in their vain flirtations and flattery,
she would sing—
like the songbirds at the dawn of spring—
to a myriad of suitors—
challenging even those of Helen—
before sending them on their way
and safeguarding their ships—
though never loving one any more than
the life in the sea needs wings,
for with their affections
lies only mere content.

Not until the sea-god himself
was love ever felt within her heart.
Gazing at all his might and splendor
as he would swing his powerful trident
and create massive whirlpools
or shattering earthquakes,
producing tidal waves that stretched as high as Mt. Olympus.
Each day, she would sing to her lover,
calling as the wolves howl for Selene,
and each day the same result:
back-turned with no avowal.
T’was not until Poseidon sent Triton—
his favored son—
that the final blow was struck.
Rejected, feeling all the sorrow and pain of Hades
as Fate condemned him to draw that cursed lot,
the creature damned men
and her beloved Poseidon
and a new song was composed—
the Song of Death,
as the veteran sailors deemed—
by which she summoned her prey,
Poseidon’s cherished sea-fairers,
and lured them in to their doom.
Men jumped from the sanctuary of their ships,
diving into the depths of dangers waters,
all for the promise of the source of such a sweet sound—
a promise duly kept.
For any man to reach the rocky shore,
gazed upon her angelic face
and saw nothing forevermore
as she stole the life from each one—
and left naught but an empty carcass—
with this, the Siren Song.