Sargasso
Sargasso
..by D Johnson
Fourteen days adrift time slowly slipped
on the good ship Cavalier
Becalmed, morose, no water they sipped
drank rum to calm their fear
The fog was thick o'er water and ship
On the swell it heaved and slid
They cooked a brew of weevily stew
while the scurvy came unbid
For days on end they searched a way
to leave this fog behind
no salt sea spray but the fog did stay
And the captain lost his mind
The men aloft could see not much
And the cook he often swore
The meat was full of maggots and such
and green as the forest floor
the boatswains mate didn't hesitate
he swung from the mast at four
the knot he made to hold his weight
was said by some quite poor
Old Will he said it should be done
ten coils on the noose for sure
they lingered on this end of one
for soon there'd be four more
though darkness came who was to blame
who brought the curse on the ship
they searched in vain for the old boatswain
then over the side he'd slip
come dawn of day a ship they say
came looming from the fog
its masts were bent and sheets were rent
and the captain called for grog
just one man stood near the deck fore grate
it's timber ghostly grey
perhaps he was the masters mate
n'er a glance he cast our way
we hailed him then with all our might
not a move e'er came from him
as the ship was drifting out of sight
the head rolled from his skeleton thin
Old Will now said "yes mates we're dead
this is the sargasso sea
there's no escape from this" he said
"only death will set you free"
so madness came some went insane
rat poison cook did share
the captain with an axe was slain
and death was everywhere
corpses now bobbed around the ship
like jelly fish near a beach
their accusing eyes attention grip
stone dead but out of reach
when I alone was left to moan
the fate befallen me
a breeze had made the rigging groan
and we moved upon the sea
all night I stood on the deck of wood
till day brought clear sunlight
the bloody fog was gone for good
but something wasn't right
a whiff of smoke from an old clay pipe
like the one old Will did use
I turned and ducked and dodged the swipe
but the blade my arm did bruise
Old Will he says "You have to die
to break the curse you used"
His eye was dead but his grin was wry
and death walked in his shoes
he swung the axe as he lumbered forth
and it lodged in the mast close by
I punched him south west east and north
and over the side to die.
climb the ladder?
Copyright © Don Johnson | Year Posted 2010
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