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!