The following version of this poem was used to create this guide: Hunger, Lily. “Sea Superstitions.” Corvid Queen, https://corvidqueen.com/stories/sea-superstitions-lily-hunger.

Note that all parenthetical citations within the guide refer to the lines of the poem from which the quotations are taken.

“Sea Superstitions” is a speculative poem that draws from marine mythology and old sailor’s beliefs. The poem explores a common historical superstition in which sailors believed that women brought bad luck to a ship — an unfair accusation which was likely rooted in the way starved men would behave around a lone woman far from home. Upon being blamed for the crew’s misfortune and thrown overboard, the speaker of the poem returns as a vengeful mermaid who preys on men at sea.