A Rought Draft

[Blackbead]

It's In Me Blood

The pub were full the night we met,

Ol’ Benny Hawkins and me.

The crew was rowdy – we were sailin’ next day,

And the rum were a’flowin’ right free.

I sat and I watched Ben drink all night

And drunker and drunker he became.

Sailin' together, we became good mates,

ANd I saw Ben’s nights were all the same.

I’d seen the drink kill a man a’fore

And I hated to watch it take Ol’ Ben down;

So I waited for a night when he weren’t so in his cups

And there were no other crewmen hangin’ ‘roun’.

Hearin' me out, he answered,

“I know I should stop drinkin’, I should!

But I fear it’s in me blood, boy,” he said,

“The Devil's thirst, aye, it’s in me blood.”

The deck was hot as we all stood to,

Me and the rest of the men,

To watch Ol’ Ben take a lashing,

For he had been fightin’ again.

He’d pulled a knife in the fo’c’sle,

Near takin’ another man’s eye.

The ‘master had warned him ‘bout fightin’

So they beat Ben till he come near to die.

Later I tended the cat’s scratches,

With bits o’sail covered with lard,

And I asked, “Why must ye be a brawler

When it makes your life so hard?”

Grindin' his teeth, he answered,

“I’d stop me fightin’ if only I could!

But I fear it’s in me blood, boy,” he said,

“The red madness, aye, it’s in me blood.”

The ship was a’burnin’ like Hades,

We were fighting to win a new prize,

And that day Ol’Ben become a hero;

I saw it with me own two eyes.

We were havin’ the worst of the battle

When Ben charged the enemy crew!

He rallied our men and he saved us . . .

But he paid the Devil his due.

I knelt by Ol’Ben at the last moment,

As the light slipped slowly from his eyes.

I asked him, "Why did you do it?"

And the answer came as a surprise:

“You men, you're all like me family,

“And it’s me home, this ol’ bit of wood,

And I guess it’s in me blood, boy,” he said,

“A pirate's life, aye, it’s in me blood.”

By Stephen Sanders

©2009

I plan on adding a fourth stanza and there are some rough spots in the rhyme. I know the meter is all over the place but I think that's the way they would have talked and so I can live with that. I do strive for some level of historical correctness and so I was wondering if anyone saw any anachronisms. Any comments would be helpful! Thanks in advance!

Blackbead

[captscurvy_nc]

I like it. Didn't feel like the meter was all over the place to me. Good work

[Blackbead]

Thanks, mate! It's beginning to grow on me as it is but I still think I'm going to add a verse from the narrator's perspective. On the other hand, I don't want to get TOO obvious since it is supposed to be a poem.

[Admiral Kilo]

Oi, Blackbeard, you need to get back to work here. I've read the other sad poetry, but this is the first to nearly bring a tear to my eye. I've yet to see a poem show the family side of piracy so well. I want to read the next stanza.