Pirated

By Cliff Lake

 

Pirated

 

We let them come aboard,

Though without much trust.

Ignoring tattered honor,

And reputations made of rust.

We gave over tiller,

They claimed it was their due,

Now they’re steering for the rocks,

They broke the rudder in two.

We hear them sing:

 

“We’re jolly pirates,

Dangerous and bold.

See us get ours,

You’re left in the cold.

We’re plundering pirates,

We cannot be controlled,

We’ll sink this ship,

Once we’ve emptied the hold.”

 

They’ve raised the full sail,

The storm strains the mast.

The crew is in the brig,

The passengers harassed.

Some sailors remain,

Surviving the cull,

Someone to man the oars,

Before they scuttle the hull.

And the pirate sings:

 

“We’re mighty pirates,

Blinded and bold.

We’ll be jumping ship,

After pocketing the gold.

We’re plundering pirates,

We cannot be controlled,

We’ll sink this ship,

Once we’ve emptied the hold.”

 

We are careening on,

The storm rages nigh.

The pirate captain puts his patch

Over his remaining eye.

The crashing waves lash the rocks

See them dead ahead,

Why did we ever leave the docks,

Can we this ocean tread?

Still the pirates sing:

 

“We’re hungry pirates,

Greedy and bold.

We’ll be jumping ship,

After pocketing the gold.

We’re plundering pirates,

We cannot be controlled,

We’ll sink this ship,

Once we’ve emptied the hold.”

 

Cliff Lake 2/2/2025

Copyright © Clifford Lake 2025

Location: Washington, DC, USA

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