as Mariana of Austria in a small boat floated down the river running
through the dark cavernous tunnels under her palace at Madrid
she trails a handkerchief in the glassy water of this half-flooded room
The handkerchief is trimmed with lace
It was a present from the Spanish king
her dress ornate - her hair is curled - her cheeks are rouged - her face is a picture of gloom
then she sees a floating head
with coral fronds around its ears
who are you ? calls the Habsburg queen
what are you ? what your status ? species ?
Sprecken zu ? and will you speak ?
oh - we are rare and precious creatures
we can‘t speak German but we sing
we make music with our fins
And how is that even a THING ?
we play them like a theremin
I can‘t hear it
you must come down into the water
put your ear under the surface - you will hear our song
I cant do that - my hair is curled
With curling irons - it took so long
please come down into our world
It seems to us your life is dreary
come and play with us my dearie
as we are Mexican and cheery
who ARE you ?
we are axolotl , see !
German we don‘t understand
I speak Spanish , well a bit …
The sort of things a Queen would say
Isn‘t it a Lovely Day !
Did you come far ?
Whats your name ?
axolotl …
And in German ?
its the same
I do hope you have enjoyed your visit to our beautiful country
Is that it ?
It's mainly German that I speak
I want music
Sing to me !
Climb aboard my little boat . I command you - I am Queen of Spain
you come on down
I can‘t … my hair …
we should explain
we can‘t come up - we cannot breathe
In air
Why not ? is that because you‘re talking fish ?
oh no - not fish ,we‘re salamanders ,
“ neotonous”
it only means
we don‘t grow up
we don‘t do Walking
especially , we can‘t grow lungs
I‘m a Habsburg - I was never young .
The Holy Roman Emperor‘s daughter
Trained from birth to be a queen
I was married at fourteen - now I‘ve children of my own
come on down into the water
My hair‘ll get wet and I will drown
My heavy clothes will pull me down
why - simply take them off
And swim
and feel the water on your skin .
we don‘t think that you will drown
Why shall I not ?
because you‘re dreaming - we are real
You say we do not drown in dreams ? what do you know ?
more than it seems
oh Dolorosa , you are sad
we saw you weeping salty tears
but - are you Pious ?
Yes my dears
us too ! we owe our lives to nuns
Ah fancy that ! - where from? which ones ?
they saved us all from certain death …
the Sisters of Immaculate Health
Where do they live ? and is that far ?
in Patzcuaro, by the lake
Which is ?
the country of the Jaguar
And could I get there ?
we don‘t know
all we know is how to sing
songs of shadows - songs of string
So how it it that you come to be
Down in these tunnels ?
mystery - we really do not have a clue
but then - why should we ? we‘re neotenous
we don‘t ave memory - do you ?
And why …?
don‘t ask us as we do not know.
geography - just how to sing
songs of shadows - songs of string…
Unfinished -Anita Greg Oct 2018 @@@@@@@@@@@@@@
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