The Virgin

Sea-girl, Magdalena
says, ca-caw ca-caw
squaking a song to
nothing at all,
at all at all.

She lived in a funny part of Portugal, where not much went on. There was dust, there were brambles, and some crooked, dry trees. Her house was tin and leather, where she stayed with her parents, mostly her father; mom was very busy, out and about.

Magdalena often cursed her fate, thinking she was meant for much more, as young girls will. Although she did cool her heels when she thought of her mother's early days. Father had found her on an island in the Arctic Ocean, off the coast of Lapland, where even less went on. Rather than tin and leather, she was surrounded by hides and ice, in an igloo, as the Inuits call it. Lili had neither mother nor father - just an old crone they called Lizaveta, because she was Russian and smelled of the sebum which is secreeted by seals. Anyway, Zvi found Lili on an expedition. He was from Israel, which was considering a national relocation. Lapland had its appeal, what with the Reindeer and all. But when Lili was discovered, Zvi and his party were more or less on a joy ride, swirling and swooshing through glaciers and ice-floes.

If only they'd known they were going to find a beautiful girl and a smelly old lady. They would have brought Champagne and soap, to be sure. Lili had pale green eyes, ones you don't see very often, and a charming snaggle-tooth. Her skin was smooth and tawny, despite the arctic clime. You know the sun reflects off snow.
Lizaveta, on the other hand, had a large hooked nose, wart and all, squinting eyes hidden behind crows feet which had turned into wings, and was wrapped in so much fur she looked like the combination of a rock, Frankenstein's monster, and a Werewolf.

Zvi thought this was no kind of place for Lili, and invited her and Lizaveta aboard. He and the Israelites were travelling on an arctic schooner, which had warm quarters below deck, resembling a bear's den. The stove burned whale blubber, and emitted an odor comparable to that of a perfume factory. The two L's were amenable to the offer, and clambered into the bear's den, which felt more like home to them than the igloo.

The long and short of it is that they ended up in Portugal. Lili wanted to be a florist, and Zvi thought he'd convert to Islam. There were lots of mosques around, but not many flowers, which is why Magdalena's mother was gone more often than not. Zvi didn't seem to mind. He was just happy to be rid of Lizaveta (died of a heat stroke), with her seal smell and her grumbles under the fur.

Meanwhile, Magdalena was thinking the ocean was the place for her. She thought about swimming, and about drowning, and was fairly sure she'd be okay with either. Then she found one of Lizaveta's old books. In it was a story about the daughter of a God, who was born from her father's semen floating in the ocean, which was the foam of the sea. She came to shore on a seashell, with her hair wrapped around her bare form. This is when the gears really started turning for our Virgin.

To Be Continued