“Hard to port!” the Captain cried, the helmsman spun the wheel,

“Ready on the starboard guns and sharpen up your steel!”

Lady Nell drew parallel, I saw her cannon’s eyes,

Piracy would win tonight, and this maid was the prize.

Puffs of smoke came from the brig, and then a hollow “boom”

Four-pound balls of death flew fast and fell short in the gloom,

As our topsails cracked to bite the breeze from dead astern

Lady Nell came into range and now we’d have our turn.

“Fire!” my ears went ringing as our cannon sang their tune,

Nell sat like a table bird, so plump and opportune;

Timber splintered, sails went slack, we fired and fired again,

On the water flew the dreadful sounds of screaming men.

“Mercy none!” the order screamed, we clambered on the Nell,

Muskets cracked as cutlasses were sending men to Hell,

Soon the sharks would have a feast of sailor’s flesh and bones,

One by one the vanquished were dispatched to Davy Jones.

I espied their Captain as the noise dropped to a hum,

“Here’s to Hell that waits for you, you heathen pirate scum!”

Then my knife flew like a dart and buried in his neck,

Blood ran like molasses and it pooled upon the deck.

Treasures from the Indies soon were streaming from her hold,

Silk and shell and finest spice and chests of Inca gold,

Faster than the battle Lady Nell was plundered bare,

“Back on board, my lads, there’s Buka rum awaits you there!”

Torches set the funeral pyre, from bilges up to mast,

Sails were set, we headed East, the brig was sinking fast;

Troubled sleep beset by ghosts, the men who never die,

Waiting for revenge upon these pirates such as I.