Undine

This unknown, unheard, novelty of word
stops me dead before the full point. For breath
to reprise the two-toned notes like a bird

at sunrise. Short - then long -- upon the tongue
un skips quickly between split rictus lips
to merge as one. The magic word is sung

over oceans, channels, beyond the bay
where ships seek shelter, down the deepest sound
of elemental water. In this way

liminal beings rise as sprites upon
earth, torn between mankind and wave of sea
without soul to rest eternity on

Undine (ondine alt. sp.) –  a category of imaginary elemental beings associated with water and a word I’ve only just encountered in Garlick’s “Poem of Manorbier”: