Let Me Be Water

Original Poetry

Written for singer Charlie Zhou Shen (周深)
Written in 2021 and edited by Jarrod Wetzel-Brown

The first notes we sang above water
Must have been stirring for the verdant land
Clattering vibrations, scattering in the expanse
In time, we married into the earthly ways
Melodies caressing the uneven cliffs,
Oceans fell silent and listened

A lucky few retained ballads of the blue
Deep, ephemeral, infinite
Children of both land and looming depth
Their lament serenading
Hearts of explorers
Plunging overboard in enchantment

And so, sirens became
A fear of what could not be grasped
Yet impossibly moving
A lust of what could not be had
Yet binding of all senses
Their faces quietly adorning voyaging ships

I never quite understood why someone
Would trade this life for an eternal moment
Steeped in sirens’ songs
Then I heard you sing
About a blue whale, the big fish, the shape of water
Now my days are veiled in your voice

What is it like to walk on earth
To sing heavenly tunes for empty ears
What was it like to emerge from water
How many nights did you gasp in cold air

What was it like to live in foreign land
When you found your voice there
What is it like to stand and
To sing a truth that is most dear

Sirens sing to consume
And you sing to be consumed
For days I clenched canvas and brushes
Mixed pigments with vigor
Attempted to make sense of the scenes in my head
But long as I tried, I
Could not capture the strands of brightness beyond colors
Could not trace the ethereal world carried in your voice

If I dive in
If I am swept away
Will your songs guide me home?
If I confess to the ocean
If I give in to the waves
Will they make me a siren too?

So I, too, fall prey to a siren
Willingly
Fondly —
And, wishing upon my last breath
That if you are a siren, freed at last
Let me
Be water.