She never went barefoot as a kid,
For on each foot she had seven toes.
She learned to keep her wide feet well hid,
Her toes crammed in sneakers in tight rows.
Her legs were awfully short as well,
Making it quite difficult to walk.
She wore long skirts so no one could tell,
And she ignored other kids’ mean talk.
They ridiculed the way that she dressed,
For she was constantly out of style.
Of course, others never would have guessed
That she had fourteen toenails to file.
As she aged, her skin became scaly,
While her knock knees and short legs grew fused.
All her toes became more flayed daily,
And, from the tight sneakers, badly bruised.
Next, she noticed a web was forming
In the spaces between all those toes.
Finding these changes quite alarming,
It’s off to a physician she goes.
He examined her, most carefully,
Never having seen such an odd case;
But he was baffled, apparently,
For mermaids aren't of the human race.
