"What a Lovely Day to Drown*" by Lyndsay E. Gilbert aka Liadan

Lay me down to sleep

Here among the shells of the ocean bed

A pretty place to rest my head

There to think of what you said

Lay me down to sleep

Lay me down to sleep

Here among the strangling weeds

A pocket full of stones and beads

And tangled hair adorned with reeds

Lay me down to sleep

A solemn mermaid passes by

I hear her underwater sigh

I envy every breath she takes

She cannot drown in sea nor lake

You cannot lay her down to sleep

The sweet air from her lungs to keep.

With open wound where blood does seep

As you have laid me down to sleep.

The withered wraiths of souls before

Are  weeping on this ocean floor

The mortal ones they murdered here

Lie with me as my death draws near

I cannot scream, I have no air

The waters pour inside the lair

Of lungs and heart to steal my life

The fates have drawn their silver knife

They pull my chord with heavy frown

Say, “What a lovely day to drown.”

There’s nothing shallow in the deep

Where you have laid me down to sleep