Sea Shanty Poem by Patrick Fealy

I recall the terror
when I ran up on deck
trying to secure the lash
when the masthead struck my head
People stared in disbelief
as the winds did howl in kind
Massive rolling mountains came
to crash against her spine
The eyes of fearful faces
where opened wide with dread
The wind was hurling sheets of rain
and I was good as dead
Standing in the water
that raged across the deck
I was down but never out
while the blood ran from my head
Some brave soul did take me
back inside the hold
down into the darkness
where it was freezing cold
Heedless of the raging seas
they bandaged up my wound
I recall the bedlam there
In the ever present gloom
a scarlet badge of courage
was mine for all to see
when the captain sent me back
to break the rudder free
His eyes were filled with terror
All nature had rebelled
Crashing waves & banshee winds
had turned the sea to hell
I leaped into the water
while clnging to a line
with my knife I cut the rope
that made the rudder bind
Many years have come and gone
but I remember still
that day at sea when breast and brawn
did break the devils will
The scar across my forehead
now helps me to recall
fate is not your master here
when waves are ten feet tall