Shiver Me Timbers

Ill-fated voyage of the "Dago Bay".

Shiver Me Timbers

 

 

“We sail at dawn,” the Captain swooned,

“And a devil crew are we

That ever heaved a mainsail to

Or crossed the seven seas.

How many men among ye ten

Are stalwart men, indeed?”

All heads bowed down, eyes swept the ground

All heads, that is, save three.

“Arrrh, only three men, brave and true

With nerve enough to dare?

There’s all the gold yer hands can hold

And women, bosom-bare…”

The Captain cast his vulture eye_a warning to beware.

 

Most patrons shrank before his words

As if he stank of rabies.

“To hell with ye, ye mangy curs!

I’ll need no help from babies.

You best be off to tend yer flocks

Afore the darkness falls.

You’d only trip upon my ship.

I’m needing men with balls.

So damn yer eyes!” the Captain swore,

And searched each bar and dive.

He found eight more and two before

A falling star arrived,

Foretelling in its fiery path the fate of all their lives.

 

With thirteen souls, the Captain trekked

To his ship the “Dago Bay”

Who’s tattered sails and splintered deck

Before the gale did sway.

The virgin hacks were thrown aback

When lightning split the air,

And a mighty swell, direct from Hell,

Their courage did despair.

While ebon flags with skulls thereon

Flapped freely overhead,

With saber drawn, he urged them on

The gangplank of the dead,

Into the arms of a fleshless mob so ghastly, and ill-fed.

 

Into the hold all men were thrown

With no word of explanation.

Where vermin lurked, and bony shards

Affirmed their soul’s damnation.

Then with the dawn, the savage sun

A crimson sky did bake.

Forewarning, it’s said, of storms ahead

Oh, how the timbers quaked!

Into the void the Dago flew,

The men below were doomed.

A chosen few to feed the crew

Were handpicked from the room.

The rest remained awaiting turn within their godless tomb.

 

At seven bells, a gibbous moon

Illumed the midnight hour,

As bands of rain from a typhoon

The seas did drench and scour.

The pirate ghouls and Captain, too

Upon the men did dine.

Of those who dared, now sick and scared,

The one soul spared was mine.

My comrades’ heads, tossed from the stern,

Kept “great whites” circling near.

Around the stern and bow they churned

Corrupt and void of fear.

A violent vortex in their wake a whirlpool made appear.

 

I hid amidst the coffin crates,

With rats my only friends.

Oppressive heat and moldy air

Grew boils upon my skin.

At length, I ventured on the deck

And to a fate unknown.

No creature stirred, no sound was heard

But the rattling of my bones.

I quelled my shaking knees at last.

The crew lay fat and sated.

The storm roared past; the shattered mast

Upon the bulwarks grated.

And when the maelstrom sucked us down, the savage seas abated.

 

 Alone to perish on the waves,

I drank my fill of brine.

The melancholy moon concurred

The sea alone was mine.

As lightning burst and thunder cursed,

I sank beneath the sea.

My final bow was over now,

And none were there for me.

The shadows of the demon crew

Waved eerily from below,

And headless seamen drifted by

Where’er my eyes would go.

Then the spirit left my salty shell; to where, I did not know.

 

The legend of the evil plied

On the ghost ship, “Dago Bay”

Of the Captain’s pride and the hellish ride

Still haunt the seas today.

And when the pyres of St. Elmo’s Fire

Upon the capstans dance,

Beware the sins of foolish men

That fall for quick romance.

“Don’t lust for flesh or gold,” says I,

Like most poor sons-of-b*****s.

Beware red skies and vulture eyes,

And the night song that bewitches.

Or your bones shall mar the ocean floor with Davey Jones’ riches.

 

Reviews

[Relic]

Avert your eyes from a comely woman, say I. (and the bible). This is a remarkable poem and I'm confused as to why no one reviewed it till now. You did an excellent job of catching the characters perfectly.

Great poem!

[Marlon Ferguson]

Thanx for reading. I actually forgot I posted here, but plan to post more from now on!

[Relic]

Glad to hear that. This is the best poem I've read all week. You catured the nautical/pirate verbaige so well. Good luck with any future writings.