The Ghost of Yellow-John Matthews

Yellow-John Matthews, he sailed upon the main A pirate who would prey on them all. Spanish of British, it was no matter Before him they all were all bound to fall. He stood six feet, of medium frame, Was never seen without his tricorn. He was crowned with hair, yellow as sun, As were all the bastards to him born. For six long years he filled his coffers, A fortune for ten men plus two. But he kept on sailing, for he loved the rush Of combat and running men through. They one day the crown sent out a ship, A ship of the line, armed to the teeth. It caught Yellow-John off old Havana, And sent his ship down to the reefs. The pirates they swam, and made it to shore, And were captured there by the Spanish. They strung them up high for all to see, A punishment that the crime did fit. But Yellow-John never made it to shore, They all assumed that he drowned. His death was the talk all the next week In the taverns of Port Royal town. Four hundred years later, off Somalia New pirates sailed to seize ships. A sudden uptick bought the navy quick, To blast the damn pirates to bits! The crisis reached its bloody peak When a thousand-foot tanker was seized. That the pirates would go for such a ship The navy folk just could not believe. The sent out the SEALs, scaling the sides, Onto the big ship’s deck they stormed, Shooting down pirates who dared to fight, Destroying their foes, as in norm. One SEAL reached the bridge and saw a man Who clearly was not a Somali. Wearing jeans, a shirt, and a tricorn hat, He looked out of place as could be. The SEAL raised his gun, and fired a shot, The slug it went straight but nit none. The blonde man vanished into the air, Dispersed clean in the mid-day sun. The SEAL he came out and said not a word, For who in the world would believe it? He scratched his yellow hair, and though back To a tale his gramma told him when sick. It had been told of an ancestor bold, Who had lived his life as a buccaneer. The SEAL supposed now he’d not got his fill, And from the grave had rose to privateer…