The Phoenix and The Mermaid

The phoenix loved a mermaid who lived underneath the sea
but when, to dive deep undersea, it tried;
the water put its fire feathers out and, tragically,
without its fire, bright, the phoenix died.

 

But then the mermaid built a driftwood fire on the shore
and, deep among its flames, the bird was lain
and suddenly, up from the flames and ash and smoke, it soared;
a firebird, brightly alive again.