A Boy and Mermaid

“To have fins and swim in there,
enjoying oneself without a care.

How nice would it be,”
said the boy with glee.

“I wish I could go underwater
and play hind ‘n’ seek with the otter,”

said the boy to the mermaid on the rock,
who was listening intently to him talk.

The mermaid said,

Gazing at the distant seabed

“Oh, the land is much better.
The whole day you won’t feel wetter!

What might it be to walk on two,
and instead of fins, wear a shoe?

Instead of water, to see sunlight,
oh, so pleasant, what a delight!

To feel warm, to feel dry,
to see above my head the blue sky.”

“Oh look,” the boy pointed at the sky,
where a shooting star whizzed by.

“It grants wishes, it is believed,
your wish will be true, be relieved.”

“But my sea…” the mermaid said, aghast.
“Just a second…not so fast!

I can’t swim or enjoy the ocean wave.
Nemo and I can’t hide in a cave.

I love the sound of waves when I sleep.
And oh, what about the pearls I keep?

I will need to leave them behind
when I leave sea and enter land.

I’ll need to stop collecting corals and shells,
I can’t leave my ocean; it’s the place where I dwell.

I like the feel of sand slithering under my feet.
And what about the fishes I meet?”

“I hope our wish doesn’t come true.
I don’t want to experience the cool underwater blue.

Said the boy distraught

“well, I had an afterthought”

I can’t play football,
or throw a basketball.

Neither can I watch TV,
or eat a kiwi.

All my storybooks will get wet.
I can’t run behind my pet.

With my friends I can’t play,
neither can I light a candle on my birthday.”

The mermaid and the boy sat under the twilight,
hoping the wish wouldn’t come true…with all their might.

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