Mermaid Smiled - XTC

From pools of xylophone clear 
From caves of memory 
I saw the children at heart 
That we once used to be 
Borne on foaming seahorse herd 
Compose with trumpeting shell 
From lines across their hands 
A song as new as new moon 
As old as all the sands 
Shrank to stagnant from Atlantic wild 
Lost that child 'til mermaid 
Smiled 

Summoned by drum rolling surf 
As laughing fish compel 
The young boy woken in me 
By clanging diving bell 
Breakers pillow fight the shore 
She wriggles free in the tide 
I'm locked in adult land 
Back in the mirror she slides 
Waving with comb in hand 
I was lucky to remain beguiled 
Grown to child since mermaid 
Smiled