Chlorine

by Jade Song

On the day of my first period, I was more dead doe than human woman. Was womanhood always so violent, raw?

These are, essentially, human excuses, but more specifically, American excuses. I’m confined to a comprehension of human difficulties through an American lens, no matter how hard I try to break out of the star-spangled brainwashing I was subject to from a young girl’s age. In a way, the recognition that these issues are uniquely American makes it worse, because they are entirely avoidable.

Mermaids aren’t beholden to human economic constructs. Under the water, we aid, love, give, heal. Freely.

The home was a hard place to love, perhaps because it was the home, and you therefore expected so much more from it, and felt its failures more acutely.

I was queen of my own infinite space.

the main similarity between humans and mermaids was that both are always leaving the ones they love.