My Sister the Mermaid A troca shell is a cone shaped marvel, once a mermaid’s purse, this shell of other life, a silenced flute or lyre, has been a companion piece of mine since I was four, a sometime shiny dragon’s tooth, or trader’s quill, a sea urchin’s diving gear, drilling treasures from the rock and coral of another time, now lies in dust, cracked, faded featureless on one bookshelf or another, time passed, tales we told ourselves things would get better, hurt less, a souvenir of ocean tears, the disappearance of a sister half explained, in this shell she was a mermaid, to flip a fluke, a coin, her silver tail, be done with this world, placed safe inside the silent bell, until one day a want of water and tale to spill, shattered peace of pearly shell. Sarah Wallis is a poet and playwright based in Scotland, UK. In the last year work has appeared at Trampset, Lunate, Abridged and Finished Creatures, with recent work at Coffin Bell and One Art. A chapbook, Medusa Retold, is available from @fly_press and she tweets @wordweave.