Mermaid On The Loose [part 3] Poem by Belle Wassermeister

The mermaid wakes up in a daze;
she cannot see a thing.
There's something bound around her eyes;
her left arm's in a sling.

A handcuff's on her other wrist,
a rope around her waist.
Another rope around her tail,
and in her mouth a taste

of blood. Thus her adventure ends
in pitiful disgrace,
her body shackled to a bed,
a veil upon her face.

'Are you awake now? ' Suddenly
a gentle voice she hears.
She had been feeling so alone;
it's music to her ears.

'Why can't I see a single thing?
Why is my head bound tight? '
'Your head was damaged, and the doc's
concerned about your sight.'

'You're also in a special place,
top-secret as could be,
and there are things, some awful things,
that you should never see.'

'I've seen some awful things before, '
the mermaid sadly sighs.
'A great white shark ate both my parents
right before my eyes.'

'Please, can't you take this blindfold off? '
the mermaid gives her plea.
'All right, but don't you be surprised
at anything you see.'

The first thing that the mermaid sees:
a tiny metal cage.
A puny wrinkled man inside
seems of an advanced age.

He has a hat and coat of green
and stifles a huge yawn.
A sign above the little cage
says 'Irish Leprechaun'.

In other cages round about
are little bluish men.
They struggle and try to get out,
and then sit down again.

They do not speak a word to her,
but she hears in her head:
'You'll never get away, poor girl;
they'll keep you ‘til you're dead! '

On down the hall, she hears a scream
as never heard before.
It starts out as an eerie wail,
and ends more like a roar.

An ape-like creature shakes the bars
‘til it seems they might break.
She'd heard of Sasquatch many times,
but thought he was just fake.

A sign caught her attention then,
and to it her head spun:
First Military Hospital,
Area Fifty-One.