Flying the Jolly Roger
 

Swaying,
wooden boards creak,
steel drawn, cannons blazing --
boarding pikes and grappling irons
ready.

Matchlocks
fire, lead balls tear,
sailors a'twitch, dying --
sabres reap a fleshy harvest
of blood.

Awash
with sticky red,
gore-soaked decks slick with death --
ripping evil overwhelming,
swarming.

Crewmen
become corpses,
passengers become slaves --
life measured in gold and silver
plunder.

Treasure
secured and stowed,
merchant ship smokes and burns --
in the breeze, the skull and crossbones
flutter.