For my latest works of poetry for kids I am writing a fantasy series. With each poem being about another creature of fantasy. So, if it’s poetry for kids you’re after, check out the seventh in the series about a mermaid.
The Mermaid
By Barry S. Brunswick
Beneath the waves of the ocean deep,
Amongst the fish, the crabs and whales.
In a magical little city,
Live the folks with fishes’ tails.
And instead of legs with human skin,
They have silver, shining scales.
In this city, of green so pretty,
That was called the Land of Mer.
An amazing tale you won’t believe,
Surely did occur.
A tale of love and other stuff,
Like life and loss and hurt.
The princess there, with flowing hair,
Lived in the castle great and grand.
But she was bored with what she saw,
The weeds and rocks and sand.
She wished so much to escape,
From the fish and squid and clams.
Then with luck, from a boat above,
A young man dropped his phone.
And it sank so deep, with a glug and beep,
And settled on a stone.
The man above was so upset,
Dejected, he went home.
The phone it rang, the mermaid swam,
And looked it up and down.
She’d never seen, the thing that rings,
Her face, it wore a frown.
She swore right there, with a fiery stare,
To track the owner down.
She thought a while and with a smile,
And a titter of surprise.
She must seek, the magic crab,
Who is old and strong and wise.
So, off she swam, the phone in hand,
To where the crabby kingdom lies.
The place was dark and raced her heart,
Kelps twisted above her head.
The tiny crabs they took a look
And off again, they went.
She was afraid as she reached the cave,
She shouted her intent.
A voice rumbled “Enter.” In she did venture,
To the home of the crustacean.
And it laughed so loud and it shook around,
At the risk that she had taken.
“How very dare you enter here,
This is the crabbie nation!”
“I’ve come for help,” she cried, she yelped,
“Won’t you aide me please?
I will do most anything,
Just tell me what you need.
If you want gold or jewels, they’re yours,
Or something nice to eat.”
Once again, the crab did laugh.
“I’ll tell you what I seek.
I would like to try something new,
I’m sick of eating weeds.
What I long for most of all
Is the taste of human meat.”
She nodded her head and then she said:
“Fine, I do concur.”
She agreed, so quickly,
For she knew not what humans were.
Then she showed the crab the phone,
While it ‘hmmed’ and ‘ummed’ and ‘erred.’
The crab it knew, what the contraption was,
And pointed to the sky.
“Above the waves, is a kingdom, a kingdom which is dry.
But you can never go there.”
“Oh what, oh wait, oh why?”
“You cannot go on land, or surely you will die.”
“Oh no, oh geez, oh shucks, oh please!
There must be some way you can help?
You’re wise and old and like, 10 feet tall,
And magical as well.”
And with a nod, it got to work
Mixing up a spell.
After an hour of magic power,
In the crab’s cave in the ocean.
She took the mix from the crab’s claw.
It was a strong and potent potion.
It tasted yuck, she near threw up,
And was flushed with weird emotion.
“Now you can fly to the land of dry,
Find the person which you seek.
But you must do it quickly,
You’ll only have a week.
And don’t forget to bring me,
Some tender human meat.”
With a renewed verve, she grew her nerve,
A new kingdom to explore.
She swam off faster than a shark,
Right for the sandy shore,
And right up onto the beach there,
Like she’d never done before.
And there she lay so helpless,
In the land of dry.
When suddenly she felt a tingle,
A tickly surprise.
Her scaly fishes tail turned to legs,
Right before her eyes.
Up she stood, then she swayed,
And went wobbling round the beach.
She stumbled here, and stumbled there,
And fell down on her seat.
It took her near an hour,
To be steady on her feet.
She found her legs and quickly next,
She could walk and firmly stand.
So, confusingly, she scratched her head,
She had to make a plan.
Then as luck would have it,
The phone went off in her hand.
“Hello.” She said, but did not expect,
To know what she must do.
“Hello.” Said a voice. “Is that you Henry
I’ve been trying to reach you?”
“I’m not Henry,” the mermaid said. “but I’ve been
Tryna to reach him too.”
The voice upon the phone continued on.
“You have his phone, oh yes indeed,
I’ll tell him that you have it,
If you’ll only bare with me.
Where is it that you live my dear?”
“At the bottom of the sea.”
“No, you see, what house or street,
Don’t you understand?”
“I’m just here being me,
Upon the golden sand.”
“Oh, sand you say you’re on the beach,
To stay there would be grand.”
“You stay there, I’ll pick Henry up
And we’ll be there pretty quick.”
The mermaid had no clue what she meant
This was different from the fish.
She agreed and waited there,
And dreamt of Henry as she did.
Before too long a man came along
But his face was red and bright.
Because the girl was wearing not a thing
He was glowing like a light.
He handed her his coat,
And smiled in her eyes.
He could tell, she needed help
She looked a little lost.
And his instinct was exactly right,
Because she really was.
With some concern he touched her hand
It was freezing like the frost.
He fell in love in a misty instant
Her eyes, her hair, her lips.
This young lady was so beautiful,
And all of that he wished.
The only problem he could see,
Was the constant stink of fish.
He got his phone, then took her home.
She rode inside his car.
And when she got out, she smiled broad,
And she wondered at the stars.
He took her inside his place,
Cos she needed a hot bath.
She had a wash and put on clothes,
And she felt pretty nice.
She brushed her hair and standing there,
She checked the mirror twice.
She’d never smelt like flowers,
In her entire life.
The young man then, was content,
It was time to hit the town.
But the girl was freaking out
By the vehicles rushing round.
They went inside a restaurant
And she was deafened by the sound.
She sat there silent, politely,
While she screamed on the inside.
She smiled ever sweetly
When she would have loved to cry.
It was busy and was noisy,
In the land that is so dry.
But Henry was in love with her
And I mean head and heels.
He was having lots of trouble
Dealing with the feels.
Finally, the time came,
When they’d finished both their meals.
He was groaning stuff and droning
And chewing on her ear.
Til she had had, just about enough
Of Henry, he was weird.
That was when he took her
Walking on the peer.
They walked the silver moonlight,
As the moon just shone above,
Then they went down onto the beach
That’s where he confessed his love.
He asked her if she’d marry him
And other slushy stuff.
Her anger burned, she grew concerned,
At every word he spoke.
Because she had learned for the worst,
She couldn’t stand the bloke.
She went a little red in face
Then the mermaid spoke:
“Forget your world, it’s like a hell
And I hate it here you see.
You have talked at me for hours
And you haven’t asked ‘bout me.
I’ll be going home soon Henry,
Into the briny sea.”
He said aloud, long and proud.
“Come on darlin’ have a think.”
“Don’t speak to me like that to me you burk,
I’m going in the drink.”
On she went, she waded in
And no, she didn’t sink.
In the ocean green, all you’d see
Was the mermaids head.
She took all her clothes off
And a tail replaced her legs.
She looked back towards the lad,
And this is what she said:
“I know you think I’m crazy
But before I do forget.”
She swam towards him quickly
And grabbed him by the legs.
“I have to take you with me,
Because I have to pay a debt.”
Come back soon for the next in the fantasy series of poetry for kids.
Barry S. Brunswick is an author. You can buy his books on Amazon:
Dreamland Part 1 – The Fabric of Dreams
Dreamland Part 2 – The Masters of Light
The War of The Turnips
Barry Brunswick’s Tall Tales – A Short Story Collection
Inner Outer – A Poetry Collection
