Vanity Ballad

Once dwelled a mermaid, blue as the sea.
Her skin matched a cloudless sky.
One thing alone was remarked of her.
She kept her vanity nigh.

She said, ‘Sea Witch, your wisdom I seek,
How can I outshine the sea?’
The witch took her by one lovely hand,
And said, ‘I can answer thee.’

‘First let me wrap here your tiny wrist,
With the red seaweed I grow.
Bathe in the moonlight filtered through clouds
It will cause your skin to glow.’

So, the mermaid wrapped her wrist with weeds,
And bathed on a cloudy night.
She glowed as bright as the Sea Witch said.
But the seaweed marred the sight.