"Pennyford Blue"
"Pennyford Blue"
The seven seas never seem short of a tale.
“Let her free!” the vessel leaves, adorning its sails.
Setting forth in a gale against the black of the night
as intrepid waters prevail, they’re carried from sight.
A flagon in right hand, hook in the left,
the captain arrives with rum on his breath.
He stumbles on deck of the Pennyford Blue
for a public address to his cretinous crew.
“To treasure and booty,” came the guttural roar
“If you pledge me your duty, there’s enough for us all!”
The others onboard then clapped as they yelled
in sudden applause for the man at the helm.
Captain LeVell was a porthole of a man
but could look after himself were the moment to pass.
He’d disposed of his hand when at odds to be free,
as Redbeard showed him the plank and he dropped to the sea.
Watching it bleed, he gnawed to find an escape,
- a true seadog with the teeth for a fight, as we say!
Some pirates had claimed he was done and rejoiced
with surprise on the faces of landlubbers ahoy
when they discovered him coiled up one night on the beach
discoloured but buoyed, like them there devices at sea.
The tide doesn’t sleep, though it often relents,
and neither would he as he plotted revenge.
He wanted them dead, reduced to a pulp,
by an ensemble of men with proven results.
A crew of old salts, all colours and creeds,
grouped with hopefuls then took to the sea.
Looking to seek vengeance on Redbeard and his men
cut ‘em to pieces o’ eight and leave ‘em for dead!
Which leads to our quest for Redbeard and his gold
to seasoned adventurers, these seas are their home.
Every beach, every cove, every opening and passage
every secret it holds is known to the captain.
And so the advantage was his in pursuit
as they row with abandon and he considers their move.
The ship and its crew adjusting the bow
as LeVell instantly knew where to look for his foe!
He took to his scope, lookin’ east as the crow flies,
instructin’ his covey to what he’d seen with his own eyes.
Their belief in the old timer proved a trusted source
as they creeped up its lone side and then jumped aboard!
A rush of swords soared through the breeze
as cut-throat corsairs fall to the sea.
They brawl under siege, with both sides losin’ men,
‘til Redbeard’s brought to his knees in a fight to the death!
LeVell had eyes of resentment, cold as the sea,
as it was time to avenge his only defeat.
The very moment he reached for the sheath on his cutlass
he felt a blow that would see him bleed from his stomach.
The greedy curmudgeon had waited alone
to make sure his leader was bludgeoned ‘fore he made away with the gold!
There’s no place for heroes in this grey, timeless, abyss
but that’s the way that it blows -
double-crossed like the flag waved high from the ship...
|