Wednesday, September 12, 2012

One-Eyed Jack

As promised, here is the first of my many pieces of work that will appear hear. Please feel free to critique it so I can perfect it. It's one of my personal favorites and the entire idea came to me by Timothy Miller placing a plastic spoon over his right eye...no joke. Enjoy!


One-Eyed Jack
By Josh Watkins

One-eyed Jack,
Scourge of the seven seas.
The wind at his command,
It bows below his knees.

The blade on his belt,
Clings firmly to his side;
It deals menacing blows,
While controlling a battle’s tide.

His face bears many wounds,
Each pulsing with hate;
Fear rules his foes’ hearts,
For death is their ultimate fate.

Treasure is his lust,
Gold his only love.
Diamonds emblaze his fingers,
Emeralds, his battle glove.

There on the horizon,
A mighty ship he spies.
Tis a Spanish galleon,
A vast and noble prize.

The sea grows cold and gray,
For blood is about to be shed,
A deadly battle is about to rage,
Soon to turn the once blue waters red.

He hoists the Jolly Roger
To the top of the mast,
Sending the captain a message,
This battle is to be his last.

The captain turns his vessel,
And opens the cannon doors,
How he longs to be fighting
Back on the English moors.




“Be brave!” the captain shouts
“This brigand we must slay!
To his Maker he must go;
For his evil deeds he must pay!”

The captain could now see Jack’s eye,
His cold and deadly stare,
Neither man backed down,
Both ready to face the guns’ flare.

Jack grinded his teeth,
The captain clenched his fists,
“OPEN FIRE!” they both yelled,
And the guns blazed through the mist.

Iron balls tore through the sky,
Splintering wood and goring flesh,
Men lay dead in the sea,
The decks are a bloody mess.

  The captain makes a daring charge,
Sailing within mere feet,
Fearing not the imminent danger,
One-eyed Jack he soon shall meet.

The ships suddenly collide,
With a splintering crash.
Pirates board the galleon,
Blades of cutlasses flash.

The captain sees the white of Jack’s eye,
And his menacing grin.
His hand he places upon his sword
Praying this isn’t a sin.

The captain and Jack drew their steel,
Clashing in a fiery rage,
Bullets flew, men fell,
Chaos filled the stage.

The established sea-men
Could not push back the scum
They moved by the will of demons,
Fueled by fire and rum.


The captain was losing,
Jack’s crew had him beat.
Their future looked grim,
There was no retreat.

Suddenly there was a violent blast,
Two gapping holes were made.
Both ships were doomed,
A noble sailor’s debt was paid.

Jack roared with rage,
His eye became blood red,
Seeing all that gold
Spilling onto the sea bed.

The disturbed pirate lost control,
Swinging wildly to strike a blow.
But the captain fought on,
Changing the battle’s flow.

The pirates tried to retreat,
But their sloop had just sunk,
They were now like rats
Trapped on a Chinese junk.

Jack made a run for the gold,
As his crew abandoned ship,
He took a blade across his back
And a bullet in his hip.

“To the life boats!”
The captain yelled.
“Not one more soul
On this day shall be felled!”

The captain drew his pistol,
At Jack’s head he aimed,
This pirate would die,
Broken, wounded, and maimed.

Jack laughed an evil laugh,
And drew his cutlass high,
He charged the captain straight,
Ignoring the pain in his thigh.


The pistol spewed shots of death,
Two went low and two went high,
One lead ball hit its mark,
Right through Jack’s good eye.

The smoke from the burning hull
Clouded the once clear air,
The captain abandoned ship,
Waiting no longer did he dare.

 The survivors rowed
Out of harm’s way,
Thanking God that they
Lived to fight another day.

Another explosion then rocked the sky,
Gold and debris rained down,
Yet the body of One-eyed Jack
Was nowhere to be found.

Today as ships sail,
Not a sailor has the lack,
To tell the legend
Of One-eyed Jack.

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