One last selkie tale
Wednesday, August 05, 2020
From "The Selkie Wife's Daughter" by Jeannine Hall Gailey:
I always wondered why she sang so strangely
at the spinning wheel, why her eyes held all
the mourning of the darkest sea. And why
she held me away,
as if afraid of my skin, why my feet and
hands were webbed with translucent sea–skin.
I used to bring her armfuls of yellow
water iris to almost
see her smile. I wondered why father
never let me swim out against the waves,
never let her walk the shores alone....
To read the full poem, go here.
Words: The poem extract above, inspired selkie legends is from Becoming the Villainess by Jeannine Hall Gailey (Steel Toe Books, 2006), which I highly recommend. All rights reserved by the author. Pictures: The photographs above are by Dan Kitwood, Steve Race, Elmar Weiss, and Friends of Horsey Seals (Norfolk). All rights reserved by the photographers.