ariel

when i ask my niece,
“if you could be any kind of animal,
what would you be?”

she blurts back, “a mermaid!  a mermaid!”
with such conviction
that i think she has thought
about the topic for weeks

the ramifications of living
underwater and swimming
in the murky depths
without shelter or home

that she is willing to tolerate
the incessant charming
of eels and sharks
and setting atop a rock for weeks
waiting for a tall ship to come

i think she is only four
and can’t possibly know
the stories of sirens
sending sailors to their doom
and decaying wrecks at
the bottom of the sea

that she hasn’t yet begun
the schooling of her brother 
who is seven
with his classrooms full of
carnivores and saber-toothed tigers

but then i see 
the plastic doll in her hands,
the young maiden with red hair flowing,
seashell top, and scaly green tail

and her eyes suddenly
sparkling like the ocean

it is then i decide against
arguing the finer points
of monkeys, bears, and eagles,

and instead, agree with her,
that a mermaid is, of course,
the perfect choice.