I adore seaweed

Said Lorri Li

I love its texture

I love its perfume

And how it is ignored

When it is washed up on beaches

Mermaids are often thought

To be the sweetest of creatures

But we are the most foul

We are not beautiful

Our beauty is what you choose to see

And our odours are quite repellent

But when they are mixed with the sea breezes

They resemble the perfumes of the exotic

A stranded sailor once saw me at play on a beach

I knew that he was admiring my beautiful breasts

But little did he know that I resembled a dogfish

And that his gaze was all of his own making

Mermaids are not at all beautiful but they are cunning

We entertain and tease the very men who are sent to destroy us

That is how our fragile species survive in the uncertain oceans

 

 

From The Mermaid Chronicles by J.W. Waterhouse