Poetry Adventures (The Pirate)# 2 Poem by Bryan Norton

In spite of the way I was doomed in my past
I might have resumed all my duties at last
The ship captain's daughter who killed for a lark
Was tossed overboard in the path of a shark

The captain himself made a pitch in the punch
For helping the witch who was having my lunch
He flew out of sight for a faulty conclusion
That I was a bite in a salty solution

I learned of his fate from an old pirate mate
A scurvy old sailor who thought I was great
A stable companion when we were at sea
Who seemed rather stunned by the image of me

He thought I returned as a ghoul or a ghost
Or maybe the drool of a watery host
The scourge of a demon who rode on a wave
To scare an old seaman who tried to be brave

He cried like a baby to learn I was real
And not merely someone who died as a meal
The grind of a crumb on the swish of a plate
The kind of a chum that a fish never ate

I spoke of the shark that was chasing my tail
And how I was saved by the grace of a whale
He told me the pirates had picked him at last
To be their new leader in light of the past

I asked my old friend if the couple they tried
Were found to be fit or just fit to be tied
He told me the captain was mad as a hatter
And even his daughter was no laughing matter

The lady was grinning when you made a splash
She said that you died when you took out the trash
We stared at each other and said this can't be
That pirates and shipmates should die stupidly

The captain was drunk when he made his mistake
But when you are sunk there is no second take
He plead for his life and he plead for his daughter
We fed them on board and we fed them in water

When learning of late that my captain was dead
I turned from my mate and I lowered my head
The man was reduced by the last of his brood
But no one alive should be treated as food

I knew that my life as a pirate was done
When I was a fool in the course of my fun
The future of pirates on land may be dim
But even a pirate should know how to swim

So many brave pirates who plunder in wigs
Are trading the sea for a cow and some pigs
My life as a pirate is what I love best
But even a pirate must bury his chest...