There’s a mermaid in my swimming pool
I didn’t know was there
Until I took a dip and got
All tangled in her hair
Her locks were long and straight and thick
As gold as fields of wheat
It floated all about me
And wrapped around my feet
I looked up at her mermaid face
I saw her mermaid eyes
I’d seen some weird things in my pool
But this one took the prize.
I reached down and unwrapped my legs
My heart pounding with fear
But when I caught my breath, I said
“What are you doing here?
This is my private backyard pool
With only me admitted
The gate is locked – no one allowed
Big fish are not permitted”
She stood up on her tail fin
And started in to talking
She spoke the words quite quickly
As I just stood there gawking
Her English was a little rough
Talked faster than expected
But as I listened, I heard words
Like virus and infected.
I ask her to slow down a bit
So I could understand her
She took a breath, her blue eyes wide
At me she took a gander
Then fish-girl started in again
She said the whales were singing
About the dolphin’s upset
And bad news they were bringing
They all decided Google
was the only way to go
She typed in the word pandemic
And then watched the bad news grow
So the fish began researching
The whales and dolphins too
The crabs and lobsters, rays and eels
All seeking what to do
And when they found an answer
Truth that they could not ignore
They chose to leave their ocean homes
And head in for the shore.
They swam along the beaches
And raised their noses high
To find that special chlorine smell
That said a pool was nigh
Then next in line would leap right in
They worked hard not to splash
Each creature stayed so very still
They didn’t flap or thrash
And up the coast they swam until
Each one of them had places
That Sea Span said were free of germs
Not even tiny traces
My mouth still hung agape as I
Absorbed the things she told me
She begged me not to make her go
She wheedled and cajoled me
I pondered all the things she said
About how pool chlorine
Would keep away all viruses
And help us all stay clean
So finally, I told her yes
My pool was hers to share
And then before I knew it
4 more creatures joined us there.
There’s a mermaid in my swimming pool
3 squids and one sardine
I live there too, all pruny now
But no Covid 19!