"The Catch of the Day" (Revised)

Golden rays hitting the sand Just a boy with a tan, world in his hand Watching the waves, feeling the breeze Mind drifting off with the greatest of ease "What if," he whispered, eyes on the blue "A mermaid appeared, a dream coming true?" Ooh, the ocean is deep Secrets it holds while the land is asleep Glitter and scales, a tail in the spray Wishing for magic to come out and play Then the water starts bubbling, a swirl and a puff Out pops a Genie, looking quite tough "Hey kid," he croaks, with a grin and a wink "You want that mermaid? Don't stop to think! Is this your wish? To have her right here?" The boy shouted "YES!" with a loud, ringing cheer "Who could resist such a mystical prize? The beauty, the scales, the look in her eyes!" The Genie vanished in a salty green mist There she was, better than any girl on his list! He’s doing a dance, he’s shouting "Hooray!" The luckiest guy in the world on this day! Her hair like silk, her smile like a star He’s thinking: "We’ll travel, we’ll go so far!" Pure magic, pure bliss, he’s losing his mind The greatest treasure that a human could find! But then he got closer... and checked out the tail His face went white, his heart started to fail "Wait a minute," he paused, with a scratch of his head "There’s nothing to do here, no love to be fed!" From the belly on down, it’s just scales and bone No legs for a walk, he’s still all alone So he grabbed his skillet, and a big block of fat "If I can't fall in love, well... I'll just fix that!" "Well," said the boy, "there’s no fun in this wish" "She’s basically just a very large fish!" He fired up the grill, the butter was hot He tossed the mermaid right into the pot! Sizzling gold, a squeeze of a lime Best damn fish he’d had in his time! Crunchy and sweet, what a delicious mistake The best fillet ever to come from the lake!