deepundergroundpoetry.com
Ocracoke Bay
-~{ Ocracoke Bay }~-
Blackbeard’s Final Battle
Prelude – A Long Way from Bristol
A long way from Bristol, have I sailed and roamed…
In search of gold and glory, across seas that foamed,
When storms did rock; and men did cower all in fear.
How much greater their terror as my ship sailed near!
From Providence to America my course was plotted,
By some divine navigator that had my destiny spotted.
No way to go back to some simpler time, and regret,
For I’ve done too much, and the enemy won’t forget!
I could have settled down with a wife and had a child,
But there was a devil inside me, a storm growing wild.
Some say I was a fiend and had me a thirst for blood,
But I was just a man sailing on timbers made of wood.
Aye I was a pirate and by the pirate code did I sail…
For we were free men no matter whence we may hail!
Was it wrong to covet freedom, no matter what cost?
Perhaps ‘twas foolish to seek treasures so easily lost.
Queen Anne’s Revenge was a fine ship I’ll remember,
But now, it’s the Adventure that I sail this November!
A long way from Bristol, in American waters, I roam.
I would ne’er wish to go back, as I call the sea home!
The lads be getting anxious for plunder and for gain…
Can they guess at the depth of my heart and its’ pain?
I’ve told not a man nor a woman, or even any deity…
For I believed the legends they told of my invincibility.
Now I see the end coming, and how do ye thus lead,
Those who look to ye hopeful, with spirits that plead?
Remember my lads, when Charleston we blockaded,
And forget not the treasures, of vessels we’ve raided!
In dawn or dusk, how we’d set sail, and give a chase.
So too shall we look back upon this threat we’ll face!
Far better it is, to live and laugh with madman’s zest…
Than to sink to one’s sorrows, and live not as is best!
I’d rather die beneath the black flag on the high mast,
Than worry for tomorrow, or dwell eternal in the past.
The winds have blown me hither, and my trades I ply,
If they’ve a use for pirates in Hell, then God I’d deny!
Part I – The Pirate Ship Adventure
Drink up the rum, and dine well, for it may all run dry.
I saw evil signs, and many strange birds up in the sky!
Ill omens, did portend, our mighty vessel’s final trip…
Down to Ocracoke Bay, where the salty tides oft dip.
I feel a battle be brewing, and it shall be a final stand,
Many will be slain, either on deck on upon the sand…
So let us make ready the ship and prepare every gun!
We’ll teach them a lesson, and doing so have our fun.
And every mate who stands and fights: to him, a coin!
Gold for one and all, who do not old Davy Jones join.
It is too late to surrender, and the cannons fire loud…
So grab your sharpest cutlass and join a hearty crowd.
We’ll all be dead on the morrow, so give them all hell,
Go down in a blaze of glory; give your best pirate yell!
The black flag is waving, and no cowards here stand,
We’ll cut our way to freedom, or ne’er again see land.
That fool Maynard, thinks he can bring us to the rope,
We’ll make him walk the plank, to drown, and choke!
The pirate ship Adventure will have her day of glory…
And I the captain: will be recalled in song and in story.
I hope they’ll remember I wasn’t always such a knave,
When they tell how I fell, and how I fought so brave…
Here down in the bay when the Devil claimed my soul.
So drink up one final toast lads, with a lusty yo-ho-ho!
I can hear the pipers calling, and they’ll not soon wait,
So drink up me hearties, and for death be not too late.
We’ve blasted them well, for our gunners have a skill,
And it seems we’ve slain them, so move in for the kill!
Their decks appear empty, save for those we blasted,
So let us board them and show we’ll not be outlasted.
Far better it is, to live and laugh with madman’s zeal…
Sometimes it takes madness, to know what is so real!
I’d rather die, beneath the black flag aflutter in the air,
Than wear some powdered wig to cover my wild hair.
The winds have blown me hither, so I’ll be their slave,
Let’s show these gentlemen how well we can behave!
Part II – The Decks Will Run Red
We needed not so large a crew for the coming revels,
But only enough to set upon the survivors like devils…
Oh the cunning of that trap our enemies had prepared!
Had we known it at the time we should have bewared.
Ten there are who chose to fight at my side together…
Bound by fate, stronger than the most fearsome tether.
When we saw the empty decks of the ship of our foes,
We thought them cowardly, and prepared many woes.
But then they poured like ants from their hidden holes,
And I would not wait for the Devil to claim their souls.
Lo, the landlubbers come to catch a pirate king today!
But I’ll not go down ere I slay a score upon my way…
Let’s show them the broadsides, and ere they’ll board,
We’ll blast them to the depths, and their goods scored.
I can barely see the sky through the smoke and the fire,
For the battle be fierce, and the mates be filled with ire.
It seems they be boarding, those who want my head…
My pistols be loaded, and soon the decks will run red!
Maynard will pay dearly, for the prize that he desires…
When we’ve sent him on down to rest, in watery biers.
The pirate code we lived by, we’d ne’er once forsake,
A short life and a merry one, with many a fine mistake!
Behold, the Jolly Roger be grinning from the mast high,
Those we fight against have their own laws to live by…
But they’ll ne’er impose them upon men who’ll be free.
So fight for the code, and fight for the seadog’s liberty!
I close in with the foe and our blades clash resounding,
I’ve fired my pistols and now my blood it be pounding.
The battle rages around me, and I see the one I seek…
His blade at the ready, a man neither foolish nor weak!
Far better it is, to live and laugh with madman’s guile…
Than to kneel before the king of some far, distant isle!
I’d rather die beneath the black flag of a rebel’s whim,
Than be led unto the shore and told where I can swim.
The winds have blown me hither, so let them be fierce,
I’ll give ye a battle to tell tales of, for a hundred years!
Part III – The Sea Flows Forever
We lost the pirate ship Adventure, her voyages done…
Some fought unto the last whilst cowards fought to run.
I know not how I lost my head but only that I perished.
The decks ran red and the treasure so many cherished,
Was ne’er found by the fools who came hoping to find.
The bay keeps its’ secrets well and makes men blind…
It blinded us to the truth, that we could not cheat death,
For we kept on fighting till the lads drew the last breath.
Those who, like me, chose to look the Devil in the eye!
Rather than surrender and be hanged, we chose to die.
Now the Queen Anne’s Revenge lies below the waves,
And many of my mates slumber down in watery graves.
We sent her there before Maynard sent us all to doom,
When two seadogs clashed ere one was cast to gloom.
But we gave them hell and made them pay for each life,
Though now the bay is silent, and forgetful of old strife!
Perhaps I got the last laugh for not a gallows did grasp,
The neck from which my head was taken with a rasp…
I died a free man and for that I should be most grateful.
Many pirates were not so lucky, and oft ended hateful!
But I lived by the code, and I fell like a brave man will,
When he fights for a cause and his heart will not be still.
Perhaps the man who slew me felt very much the same,
But the bay is remembered because of my eternal fame.
Davy Jones gets the last laugh, as the sea flows forever,
And the pirate ship Adventure, will set sails again ne’er.
Knowing men and their myths, they’ll make me a hero!
Though I could be a bastard, and bloodier than Nero…
But no more so, than any a man is oft inclined to admit.
Humans can all be wicked, too bloody guilty to acquit!
Far better it is, to live and laugh with madman’s glare…
When the Devil came for me, I returned the hot stare!
I’d rather die beneath the black flag and so it was fate,
That after my death: people call me the greatest pirate.
The winds have blown me hither, and I’ll not complain,
I lived my life to the hilt and my death was not in vain!
Blackbeard’s Final Battle
Prelude – A Long Way from Bristol
A long way from Bristol, have I sailed and roamed…
In search of gold and glory, across seas that foamed,
When storms did rock; and men did cower all in fear.
How much greater their terror as my ship sailed near!
From Providence to America my course was plotted,
By some divine navigator that had my destiny spotted.
No way to go back to some simpler time, and regret,
For I’ve done too much, and the enemy won’t forget!
I could have settled down with a wife and had a child,
But there was a devil inside me, a storm growing wild.
Some say I was a fiend and had me a thirst for blood,
But I was just a man sailing on timbers made of wood.
Aye I was a pirate and by the pirate code did I sail…
For we were free men no matter whence we may hail!
Was it wrong to covet freedom, no matter what cost?
Perhaps ‘twas foolish to seek treasures so easily lost.
Queen Anne’s Revenge was a fine ship I’ll remember,
But now, it’s the Adventure that I sail this November!
A long way from Bristol, in American waters, I roam.
I would ne’er wish to go back, as I call the sea home!
The lads be getting anxious for plunder and for gain…
Can they guess at the depth of my heart and its’ pain?
I’ve told not a man nor a woman, or even any deity…
For I believed the legends they told of my invincibility.
Now I see the end coming, and how do ye thus lead,
Those who look to ye hopeful, with spirits that plead?
Remember my lads, when Charleston we blockaded,
And forget not the treasures, of vessels we’ve raided!
In dawn or dusk, how we’d set sail, and give a chase.
So too shall we look back upon this threat we’ll face!
Far better it is, to live and laugh with madman’s zest…
Than to sink to one’s sorrows, and live not as is best!
I’d rather die beneath the black flag on the high mast,
Than worry for tomorrow, or dwell eternal in the past.
The winds have blown me hither, and my trades I ply,
If they’ve a use for pirates in Hell, then God I’d deny!
Part I – The Pirate Ship Adventure
Drink up the rum, and dine well, for it may all run dry.
I saw evil signs, and many strange birds up in the sky!
Ill omens, did portend, our mighty vessel’s final trip…
Down to Ocracoke Bay, where the salty tides oft dip.
I feel a battle be brewing, and it shall be a final stand,
Many will be slain, either on deck on upon the sand…
So let us make ready the ship and prepare every gun!
We’ll teach them a lesson, and doing so have our fun.
And every mate who stands and fights: to him, a coin!
Gold for one and all, who do not old Davy Jones join.
It is too late to surrender, and the cannons fire loud…
So grab your sharpest cutlass and join a hearty crowd.
We’ll all be dead on the morrow, so give them all hell,
Go down in a blaze of glory; give your best pirate yell!
The black flag is waving, and no cowards here stand,
We’ll cut our way to freedom, or ne’er again see land.
That fool Maynard, thinks he can bring us to the rope,
We’ll make him walk the plank, to drown, and choke!
The pirate ship Adventure will have her day of glory…
And I the captain: will be recalled in song and in story.
I hope they’ll remember I wasn’t always such a knave,
When they tell how I fell, and how I fought so brave…
Here down in the bay when the Devil claimed my soul.
So drink up one final toast lads, with a lusty yo-ho-ho!
I can hear the pipers calling, and they’ll not soon wait,
So drink up me hearties, and for death be not too late.
We’ve blasted them well, for our gunners have a skill,
And it seems we’ve slain them, so move in for the kill!
Their decks appear empty, save for those we blasted,
So let us board them and show we’ll not be outlasted.
Far better it is, to live and laugh with madman’s zeal…
Sometimes it takes madness, to know what is so real!
I’d rather die, beneath the black flag aflutter in the air,
Than wear some powdered wig to cover my wild hair.
The winds have blown me hither, so I’ll be their slave,
Let’s show these gentlemen how well we can behave!
Part II – The Decks Will Run Red
We needed not so large a crew for the coming revels,
But only enough to set upon the survivors like devils…
Oh the cunning of that trap our enemies had prepared!
Had we known it at the time we should have bewared.
Ten there are who chose to fight at my side together…
Bound by fate, stronger than the most fearsome tether.
When we saw the empty decks of the ship of our foes,
We thought them cowardly, and prepared many woes.
But then they poured like ants from their hidden holes,
And I would not wait for the Devil to claim their souls.
Lo, the landlubbers come to catch a pirate king today!
But I’ll not go down ere I slay a score upon my way…
Let’s show them the broadsides, and ere they’ll board,
We’ll blast them to the depths, and their goods scored.
I can barely see the sky through the smoke and the fire,
For the battle be fierce, and the mates be filled with ire.
It seems they be boarding, those who want my head…
My pistols be loaded, and soon the decks will run red!
Maynard will pay dearly, for the prize that he desires…
When we’ve sent him on down to rest, in watery biers.
The pirate code we lived by, we’d ne’er once forsake,
A short life and a merry one, with many a fine mistake!
Behold, the Jolly Roger be grinning from the mast high,
Those we fight against have their own laws to live by…
But they’ll ne’er impose them upon men who’ll be free.
So fight for the code, and fight for the seadog’s liberty!
I close in with the foe and our blades clash resounding,
I’ve fired my pistols and now my blood it be pounding.
The battle rages around me, and I see the one I seek…
His blade at the ready, a man neither foolish nor weak!
Far better it is, to live and laugh with madman’s guile…
Than to kneel before the king of some far, distant isle!
I’d rather die beneath the black flag of a rebel’s whim,
Than be led unto the shore and told where I can swim.
The winds have blown me hither, so let them be fierce,
I’ll give ye a battle to tell tales of, for a hundred years!
Part III – The Sea Flows Forever
We lost the pirate ship Adventure, her voyages done…
Some fought unto the last whilst cowards fought to run.
I know not how I lost my head but only that I perished.
The decks ran red and the treasure so many cherished,
Was ne’er found by the fools who came hoping to find.
The bay keeps its’ secrets well and makes men blind…
It blinded us to the truth, that we could not cheat death,
For we kept on fighting till the lads drew the last breath.
Those who, like me, chose to look the Devil in the eye!
Rather than surrender and be hanged, we chose to die.
Now the Queen Anne’s Revenge lies below the waves,
And many of my mates slumber down in watery graves.
We sent her there before Maynard sent us all to doom,
When two seadogs clashed ere one was cast to gloom.
But we gave them hell and made them pay for each life,
Though now the bay is silent, and forgetful of old strife!
Perhaps I got the last laugh for not a gallows did grasp,
The neck from which my head was taken with a rasp…
I died a free man and for that I should be most grateful.
Many pirates were not so lucky, and oft ended hateful!
But I lived by the code, and I fell like a brave man will,
When he fights for a cause and his heart will not be still.
Perhaps the man who slew me felt very much the same,
But the bay is remembered because of my eternal fame.
Davy Jones gets the last laugh, as the sea flows forever,
And the pirate ship Adventure, will set sails again ne’er.
Knowing men and their myths, they’ll make me a hero!
Though I could be a bastard, and bloodier than Nero…
But no more so, than any a man is oft inclined to admit.
Humans can all be wicked, too bloody guilty to acquit!
Far better it is, to live and laugh with madman’s glare…
When the Devil came for me, I returned the hot stare!
I’d rather die beneath the black flag and so it was fate,
That after my death: people call me the greatest pirate.
The winds have blown me hither, and I’ll not complain,
I lived my life to the hilt and my death was not in vain!
Published 18th Feb 2019
Author's Note
This poem of mine is one in a series of Pirate-themed poetry that I wrote years ago, filled with all of the usual power and passion of my various other writings. Some of these are fictional, and some are not.
All writing remains the property of the author. Don't use it for any purpose without their permission.
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Anonymous
- Edited 27th Dec 2019 12:45pm
18th Feb 2019 3:33pm
<< post removed >>
23rd Feb 2019 2:22am
It is wonderful to see that you enjoyed giving this poem of mine a good read, dear Amelia! Interestingly, my grandfather in this life was very English. In fact, there was this one certain ancestor of ours who fought on the side of the British during the American Revolution as a naval admiral, of all things. So ironically, the sea has always been in my family's blood. My mother, gods rest her soul, always told me that she fancied herself to be a bit of a rogue, and told me equally often that she believed she had been a female pirate in a past life. When I discovered that in one of my own past lives I had been a rather infamous pirate, it came as no surprise to anyone given all that... and for other reasons as well. For some time, I thought I might write about it one day... and when I finally got the chance to do so, I committed some of my memories from that past life to the page. It is not always easy writing about one's rather bloody final moments from another age, another time. To me, the memories are as if they happened only yesterday, as are all of my past life memories... so it makes it very easy to put down what transpired. It is like recalling what restaurant I went to last week, or what I was doing last New Year's Eve. But that is one of the things I enjoy the most about writing poetry... being able to share those memories with others and create beautiful art from them. Which in turn makes remembering the darker moments from those lives a far less unpleasant thing.
Anonymous
- Edited 27th Dec 2019 12:45pm
27th Feb 2019 3:58pm
<< post removed >>
