From Poetry with a Purpose

*****Meranda*****

by Ernestine Cobern Beyer

Long ago, and far below the sea's gigantic gale,
Meranda lived~ a mermaid with
a most becoming tail.
Her face was sweet and merry, and
her voice, enchanting, very,
As it mingled, light and airy, with
the ocean's somber scale.

King Neptune heard and was so stirred,
he called his wizards three.
"I want to keep Meranda's song!
It must not die!" said he.
"Come, wizard and magician!
Show your skill and your ambition.
And grant the wish I'm wishin'!
Catch this lovely song for me!"

The wisest of the wizards did not have
to ponder long.
Said he with verve, "A shell will serve
to hold Meranda's song!"
His brothers cried, "Be quiet! You're a fool!
You can't deny it!"
But the king replied, "Let's try it! This
will prove him right or wrong!"

Meranda, then, began again her
captivating art.
She held a shell and sang to it while
Neptune stood apart.
She charmed the king completely with
the tune she trilled so sweetly--
And the shell retained it neatly in its
iridescent heart.

Go find a shell and listen well and
tell me what you hear.
Though wave and wind have dimmed and
thinned that singing, once so clear.
Through walls of pink and yellow you will
hear the ocean's cello...
And a murmur, soft and mellow, will
whisper in your ear.

*Meranda is from Poetry with a Purpose
compiled by Barbara Beyer Malley.
& a special thanks to Michelle the Mermaid
from Justitia, for playing the part of Meranda:)