Be careful what you fish for

A new sonnet.

Be careful what you fish for


You are a tempting mermaid -- will you swim
into my net? I cast it in the sea
with just a wish to catch a fish, but whim
and wisdom brought me here, where playfully
aquatic jewels cavort. Yet I did not
expect to find a piscine miss of myth
within this cove; just perch or grunt or spot
or octopus; however, with
a glimpse of naked skin and scaly tail
I feared that I had seen a fateful sight
from love and legend, sought beneath the sail
for centuries, and now she swims in bright-
lit waves beside my boat. So could we mate?
Or am I just to her a tasty bait?