Mermay 2026 – Day Twenty-Six – Shel Silverstein
“Now, you can search the world for pretty girls
‘Til your eyes are weak and dim
But don’t go swimming with the mermaids, son
If you don’t know how to swim!”
When I first saw this prompt, I wasn’t sure about it. My feelings about Shel Silverstein have always been mixed. Make no mistake, his work is great. It’s just that my first exposure to him was a collection of his adult cartoons that I was far too young to read (One of the cartoons, “How Bullshit Grew,” still triggers a gag reflex whenever I think of it)
While I was wondering what poem to illustrate and what the mermaid contact would be (I was leaning towards the Unicorn song), I discovered just why Silverstein was on the prompt list. Once I listened to the song, I knew exactly which part of it to do.