Tuesday, April 12, 2016

The Sea Witch meets democracy


Well, me mateys, we be changing
how we elect our captain
of the Sea Witch, the bane
of the Spanish Main

we have some rules now,
on how to behave now,
among our pirate brethren
and among our prey

            put the sword down
            fool, or I’ll use it
            to slice a smile, permanent
            on your ugly mug

as I was saying
we have new rules,

pass the rum, you blighter,
I need a swig.

You elect your representatives,
the pirates of council,
nicely, now, without killing,
or maiming, or slicing an arm
of a leg or two,
and I appoint a few worthies
as super-pirates of council

            well, yes, an ear or finger
            might be permissible

and they come together
to meet in session,
a session of pirates,
to elect the captain
of this fine ship of state,
our Sea Witch.

We do it proper, now,
with votes, beating our swords
into oars, but I should mention
the captain retains a veto
on who walks the plank
and how the shares divide
but that’s only right and fit

            and if you don’t agree
            I’ll veto your head
            with a sword right here
            and now

we be democratic now,
we vote proper now,
and the Sea Witch
will never be the same
now.

Tweetspeak has a poetry prompt this week, and it’s about prates and codes of conduct. If you were hiring pirates, what would your expectations and rules of conduct be? To see what others had to say, please visit Tweetspeak Poetry.


Photograph by Linnaea Mallette via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.

3 comments:

  1. Funny!

    "...beating our swords/into oars....' Nice play on words.

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  2. Outstanding parallels, Glynn! Expresses exactly how I'm feeling in these days. Oh, and I'm with Maureen on your most excellent play on words.
    Blessings!

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