Life of Isaac: Part I

I was born free of struggle, lucky I know,
But this leisure did give me a desire to grow,
So while others were fighting with poverty,
I dreamt of the world that I wanted to see,

My days as a child were spent writing and reading,
The history of man was, so broad and appealing,
Mesopotamian Desert to the New World’s frontiers,
I loved following our story throughout the years,

My two sisters and mother were loving and kind,
Father was distant, though civil at times,
Still none really cared for what I wanted to find,
And really why should they? My ambitions were mine,

When I chose to leave, I told not a soul, thinking none would care,
Though my oldest friend had spotted me, he walked by my side,
Promised that he would come with me, I said he would not dare,
Yet he loved me so much, he made it clear, from him I could not hide,

So when I did leave, I had a friend by my side,
Both sixteen, our fear masked slightly by pride,
We had missed Trafalgar, fought in 1805,
Now out to the ocean and the rest of our lives,

The ship’s men were rough, battle-hardened and strong,
We both did our best to do them no wrong,
The officers too, would give us abuse,
For we had yet to show them our use,

At Santo Domingo, I saw my first fighting,
Though not in the mix, I heard screaming and crying,
Saw ships being smashed and bodies just floating,
I had not a scratch, and with the victory, was gloating,

Now after the battle, the crew took us in,
No longer did we feel like dogs among men,
Next we sailed to Bermuda, to gauge upon sin,
I discovered pleasures that I would seek, again and again,

We were not allowed to set foot on shore,
For fear we may flee, seeking paradise in the sun,
Morale was kept high though, with women and rum,
Experience, I thought I’d had plenty, they showed me more,

I had been sat drinking when I was grabbed and cajoled through a crowd,
Sat down on a chair surrounded by crew and whores, cheering loud,
Across from me sat the biggest man on the ship, who went on to tell,
We would exchange blow until one of us fell,

Men were betting on us, they know my chances were slim,
I felt so diminutive, looking at him, I went first, he almost flinched,
Then his fist crashed down, cannon through hull, most pain I’d ever had,
I composed myself, I swung at him, drew blood, it wasn’t that bad,

I was proud of myself, the crowd were amazed,
He smiled, hit back, I flew through the air and crashed in a daze,
Defeated, of course, but I showed pride and courage,
The to do one more thing I was eagerly encouraged,

Dragged yet again, round a corner, then thrown to the ground,
A woman wiped blood from my face, then beside me sat down,
She climbed upon me, though it seemed I wasn’t there,
I felt every bit of it and decided not to care,

Fist-fights for money, constantly drinking,
Laughing, whoring and intellectual thinking,
Relative freedom we had down below,
But now Europe beckoned us, we were forced to go,

Another good friend I met early on,
He had been rightly accused of doing some wrong,
He would be caught, surely put to death,
So late at night I was awoken by his near silent breath,

Also standing above me, was my friend from back home,
Both wanted to leave, but I had no intention,
To as a vagabond shamelessly roam,
Furiously we whispered, so as not to get any attention,


How he convinced me, I’m still not quite sure,
Yet the three of us rowed In the dead of night,
Three boys in a boat, I wished it one fewer,
Alas there I was, morose, this could not be right,

Deserter. That was me, that I could not deny,
We all prayed and hope we would not be caught,
If that did happen, of course we would die,
I sat slumped and timid, in Lisbon’s Port.