The Conquistador

When once we dived on the San Miguel

Off the coast of old Peru,

We little knew that under the swell

Was an Aztec treasure, too.

I scuba’d down, and the vessel lay

Tipped onto its starboard side,

And mostly covered in silt that day

That buried its Spanish pride.

The wreck had never been seen before

So my heart began to pound,

We’d found the ship we’d been looking for

Submerged, and under a mound,

While whisking some of the silt away

My eyes had caught a gleam,

The helmet of a Conquistador

Lay trapped, and under a beam.

But as the silt was dispersed I saw

That the helmet still was full,

For glaring out from beneath its brim

Was a fearsome human skull,

The skeleton was intact, and lay

Still trapped, where once he fell,

His legs were caught in a cannon bay

Of the fated San Miguel.

I had no time for the niceties

That I should have shown to him,

But seized the helmet from off his head

And I left him, looking grim,

I took it up to the surface as

The first of our spoils that day,

And told the crew that I claimed it,

It was mine, so come what may!

The treasure trove was incredible

Of jewels and gold moidores,

I didn’t think that my helmet would

Be missed, once taken ashore,

But in my mind was a picture that

I’d seen on the ocean bed,

Of that struggling, drowned Conquistador

And that helmet on his head.

I sat that helmet in pride of place

As a conversation piece,

Tricked it up with a piece of lace

Thanks to a helpful niece,

But then the sounds had begun at night

The clashing of steel on steel,

And shadows, moving in passageways

From something that wasn’t real.

One night, the door with a mighty crash

Fell into the passageway,

I must have been feeling more than rash

To venture toward the fray,

For standing there in the open door

Was a skeleton, with a sword,

Who slipped the helmet onto its head

Not saying a single word.

I watched it wade back into the sea

This pile of ancient bones,

And think I know where it’s sure to be

Back where it lay, alone,

It seeks its brother Conquistadors

Where each had perished as well,

Guarding the store of gold moidores

In the hold of the San Miguel.

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Barbz]

Mightedly scribed in its concept we might all agree, but more so yet in in its presentation as I'm sure we have all wondered if stories, a bit less ghostly..(if you can do that DLP) are more frequent than we could ever expect. I, for one, found it fascinating. The Spanish Conquistadors did not take kindly to those stealing their bounty......Beware the wooden leg!! LOL! Barbz

[Jane Winters Rogers]

I sat the helmet in pride of place as a conversation piece! Little did the diver know who would be coming to collect it....I really like this poem and am relieved to see another poem of your quality posted for us to enjoy reading....were you inspired to write this on because of the battle go'ing on off of Spain over the sunken treasure found by divers and supposedly Spain was going to split the treasure with the divers and have now changed their mind and backed out of the original deal to split 50/ 50 with the dIvers. Spain want's to lay claim to all that's remains down there in the depths...man and his greed...create a lot of strife. Again I really liked this idea!

[Lena M. P.]

Gave me the "Shiver me timbers" if you know what I mean. Sorry I couldn't resist. Another top notch poem from the master of scary. Good reading.