Once upon a time,
A pirate ship came to mind.
Large and flowing,
With figure head all knowing.
Leading the ship day and night,
Into the latest pirate fight.
Brought many a ship's crew to their knees.
When Esmerelda held her cutlass high,
Squinted about with her one good eye.
The first mate squirreled,
In a hurry,
To turn the rudder left or right.
Failure to obey,
Would send the first mate to walk the plank,
Into the sharks as he sank!
In middle of Mediterranean Sea
Lies a petrified pirate ship
She froze in place during a fierce battle
Her secrets and treasures locked inside
Wait here.
Treasure map coming soon
The pirate ship sailed the high seas
Looking for other ships to seize
Taking jewelry, mainly gold
Those pirates were bold
Until they robbed a ship fill with disease
As August day darkens with sunset
There are always those
Who cannot let go of the summer
The sail of the boat on Torch Lake
First a yellow flame
To the match of last sunray
Now
With the hills extinguishing last light
Sail becomes ash gray of a hard rain
Dissolving to black night
No guiding lights
To save it from the innocent
A pirate ship of skull and bones
Held captive to the noose
Of the windless
The cannon of universe
Finishes it
Bombards the lake with falling stars.
Ocean surge, reflecting moon
Mermaids, sirens swim and swoon
Haunting song, night and day
Tethered boat just sailed away
Seadog specter with loud cuss
Shot himself with blunderbuss.
Erstwhile pirate ship revealed
Crew long dead their fate was sealed
Zombies scale tattered rigging
Captain Kyd counts his shilling
Sound of cutlass, who walked plank?
Bag of bones with chains that clank.
Lighthouse spread its haunted light
Spirits jump in mad delight
Ghostly antics in the deep
From Davey’s Locker spirits seep
Ocean boils with mystery
You and I will never see
Pixabay Image
by
Hullabaloo22
Doctor with his lanky pirate legs
Aptly put together Gimpy’s pegs.
On the Seven Seas
Said it was a breeze
We know little about Captain Meggs
Please do not feed me your rotten eggs
Young captured cabin boy often begs
Captain liked his pleas.
Steered us to the Keys.
To secret treasure and hidden kegs!
Written 8-02-2019
Poetry Contest: Sea Based Limericks Matching
Sponsor: Tania Kitchin
My health is back; I am almost normal
I had been in the bowels of depression
after eight weeks of shingles that took me out and shook me
I saw my friends yesterday, for the first time
Seeing them is a great way to generate poem ideas
Their stories are always funny and spicy.
My grandchildren came over last week.
They were so glad to see me alive and healthy
After a hiatus that seemed to last ten years!
I am drawing cartoons, and painting in my studio.
It waited for me, happily, ready to give me joy
Whenever I was ready.
I picked up a dictionary yesterday and began
Looking for new words. I have a word list all over a page.
They are ready when I am ready.
In the meantime I am back in my studio drawing
Faeries, witches, cats, dragons, and pirate ships.
My health is so great, I dare you to make me walk that plank.
I dare you to try and get my goat.
I dare you to irritate me. My health is back!
I am enthusiastically me again. Splash.
There once was a pirate from Antilles
That chased all the young beautiful fillies
To all a deception vow
Carving of them on ships bow
Lies brought doom, now lies in field of lilies
4/10/2019
Pirates Contest
Sponsored by Tania Kitchin
Syllables checked with how many syllables 10, 10, 7, 7, 10
Black Pearl Pirate Ship versus Hurricane Bertha
August 9th 2014.
Liverpool was a mighty port
New Brighton stood by Perch Rock Fort
The Black Pearl sat on Wirral sands and stone
And against Hurricane Bertha stood alone
Bertha howled and shrieked anew
A massive wind that blew and blew
Waves and tides lashed at Black Pearl
But could not unseat this ungainly girl
Her wood and flotsam together held
As the hurricane's fury unfurled
And threw at her all that it had
But could not wrest Pearl from her pad
Earlier Pearls had sadly succumbed
To other winds and tides and storms
But this Black Pearl finally won
And Wirral's wonder remained undone
Noddy and his motley crew
Had taken precautions and had paid their due
And now as calm is once more restored
Everyone can get on board
Fix her up for all the kids to see
(From 2 years old to seventy)
Things were going so well
Warm summer days
of love , friendship and peace
It seemed that they would
go on forever
But what's that
I see in the distance?
It's a pirate ship -
the skull and crossbones
on it's flag
Hearts beat
a little faster
"the dreadful has
already happened"
The pirate ship
is coming closer
Breathe in deeply
Let's hope it's not
for the last time
While the waves gently
lap against the shore
We learn once more
the meaning of fear
Let us pray now!
Let us not forsake hope!
Sinister eyes peer out
at us
as we seek refuge
From these dark masters
of the deep
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.