Cursed Voyage

We’d been at sea for a month or more

And the nights were getting cold,

We were down to a diet of hard tack

Full of weevils, green with mould,

The pork in brine in the barrels

Had made everybody sick,

So we needed to find an island soon,

We needed to find one, quick.

 

We’d laid out sheets to catch the rain

Our water was getting scarce,

A few were drinking seawater

Running amok to rant and curse,

We’d thrown the Bosun over the side

When he took to men with a knife,

I’d known him back in earlier times

And pitied his beautiful wife.

 

The Captain stayed in his cabin, drunk

On a daily quart of rum,

We were close to staging a mutiny,

Held back by the views of some:

‘If you would swing at the yard arm, mates,

You can do it on your own,

We’d rather get rid of his Doxie,

She’s the problem, bad to the bone!’

 

The Doxie mentioned was Annabel

A tramp from the old East Side,

The Captain brought her aboard the night

Before we caught the tide,

There wasn’t the time to ship her off

To shore before we went,

With the gallants full of a southern breeze

And the backs of the sailors bent.

 

We didn’t know for a day or two

There was bad luck on the bridge,

‘Til she sauntered out in her petticoats

And winked at Lieutenant Ridge,

We could see the trouble she’d cause us then

With every man agape,

A crew, with only one woman there

And their thoughts will turn to rape.

 

We sent a crew to the Captain’s lair

To prise him away from the drink,

We wanted to get him sobered up

So he could take charge, and think,

But Annabel blocked the cabin door

With a pair of pistols, primed,

All they could hear was the Captain’s snore

As they came back down, resigned.

 

A gale blew up and it filled the sails

And carried us further south,

There wasn’t a sign of land out there

And the men were down in the mouth,

We called the lad in the Crow’s nest, ‘look

For the slightest sign of land,’

But all he saw was the heaving swell

As he turned, and peered and scanned.

 

Two sailors fell from the rigging, and

Were lost in the heaving sea,

The bowsprit kept going under

Washing the decks, continually,

We’d set our course by the Pole Star but

The compass was going mad,

Swinging around from North to West

‘Til we lost the course we’d had.

 

Lieutenant Ridge and the Doxie, they

Would disappear and meet,

Whenever the Captain seemed to be

Unconscious, or asleep,

The men were getting so desperate

That they overcame their fears,

‘We have to be clear, it’s them or us,

Or this voyage will end in tears!’

 

We ambushed Ridge on the after deck

Just after the seventh bell,

Heaved him over the quarter deck

And into a rising swell,

Then lay in wait for the Doxie, and

We seized her just at dawn,

Lashed her fast to the cold mainmast

In the centre of the storm.

 

They went to the Captain’s cabin,

Forced the door and they found him dead,

There was blood all over the pillow,

He’d been beaten over the head,

We held a funeral service and

Then buried him at sea,

And turned to deal with the Doxie who

Was struggling to be free.

 

‘We know that the Captain was murdered,

Which of you hit the fatal blow?

It’s down to you or Lieutenant Ridge,

And Lieutenant Ridge, we know.

We know he fell for your fatal charms

And he jeopardised the crew,

But he wasn’t mean, or a murderer,

And so, that just leaves you!’

 

‘I admit, I hit him in self-defence,

He raped me every day,

The man was a drunken scoundrel,

He deserved it, come what may.’

‘You can’t fall back on your honour now

When you had none to begin,

You came on board as his Doxie,

Now as a Doxie, you will swing!’

 

We hauled her up to the yard arm

Fixed a rope around her neck,

Stood her up on a barrel, gave her

A moment to reflect.

I kicked the barrel from under her

And she swung for her evil deeds,

While the storm began to abate just then

As her dying calmed the seas.

 

We’ve been becalmed for a week or so

There’s not the slightest breeze,

And never a sight of land out there

Just a world of open seas,

Most of the crew went raving mad

And died, there’s only us three,

The first mate and the anchorman,

Myself… and she swings free!

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Adam Lebzo -RonninWarri..]

I dont know why i liked this part especially
"Lieutenant Ridge and the Doxie, they
Would disappear and meet,
Whenever the Captain seemed to be
Unconscious, or asleep,
The men were getting so desperate
That they overcame their fears,
‘We have to be clear, it’s them or us,
Or this voyage will end in tears!’"

Its all so charming and takes you to the scene and put your muse on fire
Pretty glad I found your page Mr.David
well done!

[minisla]

Cursed the lot of them

[JM Russell]

And yet another I shall read again.

[Carolann Dowsett]

Oh my so gruesome. What a terrible tale. Another thoroughly entertaining write.

[Clayton Bardwell]

That one made me woozy.

I've always loved the sea and old sailing ships like this one. That is until I started going out on them. I've been car sick, air sick, and love sick, but never have I been as sick as on the sea.

[Marie]

I know a woman on board ship is bad luck, but apparently she's bad luck even dead.

[Jack...]

Very good and very Poe like in its theme and shades of darkness. .

[David Scott]

The salty stories of the sea...
A garden of material for your poems of epic lore!
It is sad that our sense if causeband effect is as poor as our sense of justice sometimes.
Thank once more for your wonderful poems.