The Fiji Mermaid

1.
Spirit level: the line inside the bottle
where whiskey kisses air.
Barometer of this house,
it falls every day.

2.
I surprised you in your room
with a needle and thread,
sewing the torso of a monkey
to the tail of a fish.
Embroidery: an operation
performed upon the truth.

Miranda Gaw is a writer and computer programmer living in Brooklyn, New York. She edits Peter Parasol (http://www.peterparasol.net), an online magazine of poetry. Most recently, her work has been published in or is forthcoming from Kaleidotrope, Goblin Fruist (http://www.goblinfruit.net), and Cabinet des Frees (http://www.cabinet-des-fees.com).