Long ago when I was four,
I met some mermaids on the shore.
Ranged on a sea wall in a group
Talking about seaside soup.

Seaside soup one argued should,
Be made by a child or it's not good.
Tell us lad so quaint and wee -
Do you know the recipe?

I nodded and with pail in hand,
I filled a hole dug in the sand,
Then added foam and mixed it well,
Stirring briskly with a shell.

Next I squeezed seaweed quite a trick,
In to the soup to make it thick,
And letting nothing go to waste,
I threw a crab in just for taste.

Now that I am older I admit,
I wouldn't like such a soup a bit.
Even then I told myself,
T'was strictly for the mermaid's shelf.

By But they were grateful never fear!
And to this day I seem to hear
Wherever white surf churns and swishes
Thanks Dear Child
That was delicious.

My grandmother wrote this poem for Jack and Jill magazine a long time ago. I was trying to think of a window display, and was reminded of it. I was charmed by the idea of the mermaids, and found myself collecting mermaid stories poems and dolls.

I dressed ny neice Megan up as a mermaid and photographed her.

I found a series of silkscreen prints of underwater sandcastles and seasscapes that my mother had made.

I remembered a set of underwater photographs I had taken once on vacation, and added them into the mix.

The idea for a mermaid window display became a reality. The mermaid dolls in the window now stand guard over a treasure trove of glittering sewing supplies, rhinestone buttons and trims.

Kitty Leech