He's No Jolly Sailor Bold
There are countless tales of Mermaids
Across all the Seven Seas;
But the story I must tell will leave you
Weak in both your knees...
Brae Muldoon was a-fishing one night
Way out in Seaton's Bay,
The Moon was thin and the mist was thick
And all around him was gray;
Two hours had passed with nary a bite
And his feet were cold as stones--
When a sweet voice from the dark green deep
Sent a shudder through his bones:
"Are you waiting here to see me?"
Crooned the voice, so soft and clear
Like a far-off death-knell sounding
In the old fisherman's ear;
Two pale hands like mother o' pearl
Grasped the side of Muldoon's craft,
And a head like that of Venus
Smiled at him from the aft---
Long and shining was her kelp-green hair,
And her large and glittering eyes
Fixed Brae with a compelling stare
As he tried from his seat to rise;
Her teeth like a Moray eel's gleamed
As she aimed at him a smile
That reminded him of his father's tale
Of a Nile crocodile!
Brae grabbed both oars and began to scull
Shore-ward with all his might,
But that mermaid, like a prize mackerel,
Put up a dreadful fight!
Her tail lashed water into foam
As she clung onto his boat:
"You cannot escape," she leered,
A hideous chuckle in her throat!
"Come with me to the bottom;
You shall see such wondrous sights!
As soon as you breathe water
You'll no longer want to fight..."
Brae bonked the mermaid on the head
With a wild blow of an oar;
A life-long sailor, he'd never heard
Such black oaths as she swore!
Her fingers left deep scratches
In the stern as she let go;
"Row out here again, Muldoon," she screamed,
"And your soul shall rot in woe!"
Brae burned his boat and sold his rods--
He won't even eat fish anymore,
And you won't catch him within a country mile
Of Seaton Bay's grim shore.
https://www.deviantart.com/chaosfive-55
Happy Halloween!
Top notch old boy!
ReplyDeleteSweet! Thanks, man!
ReplyDeleteMy father was the keeper of the Eddystone light
ReplyDeleteAnd he slept with a mermaid one fine night
Out of this union there came three
A porpoise and a porgy and the other was me!
Yo ho ho, the wind blows free,
Oh for the life on the rolling sea!
-- Charles Wingate
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteA mermaid found a swimming lad,
DeletePicked him for her own,
Pressed her body to his body,
Laughed; and plunging down
Forgot in cruel happiness
That even lovers drown.
- William Butler Yeats