Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill (1998). These four poems address universal themes of displacement through the voice of a population of mermaids who have been forced to leave their marine habitat and assimilate to life on land. Translated by Paul Muldoon as 'The Assimilated Merfolk' (2007). Translations available in: عربي, Čeština, 汉语, Deutsch, ελληνικά, English, Español, Français, Galego, Nederlands, Polski, Português, 日本語.
Translator:
The Mermaid in the Hospital
She awoke
to find her fishtail
clean gone
but in the bed with her
were two long, cold thingammies.
You'd have thought they were tangles of kelp
or collops of ham.
‘They're no doubt
taking the piss,
it being New Year's Eve.
Half the staff legless
with drink
and the other half
playing pranks.
Still, this is taking it
a bit far.’
And with that she hurled
The Mermaid in the Hospital
She awoke
to find her fishtail
clean gone
but in the bed with her
were two long, cold thingammies.
You'd have thought they were tangles of kelp
or collops of ham.
‘They're no doubt
taking the piss,
it being New Year's Eve.
Half the staff legless
with drink
and the other half
playing pranks.
Still, this is taking it
a bit far.’
And with that she hurled