Please don't steal my work.
I was thinking about dreadlocks, and how cool they are, but then again how much I wouldn't enjoy having them. Dreadlocks lead to thinking about Jack Sparrow's dreads, at which point I tangent-ed to pirate queens.
Then, of course, I wanted to write a poem-ballad about a Pirate Queen. This wasn't nearly what I was envisioning at the time, but still cool, or at least I think so.
Woman of Titles
The Ugliest Daughter
that’s what they said,
she had plain brown hair and a thin smile, flat chest
she pulled off wings of insects
and punched the bullies back.
That Insufferable Girl
that’s what the teacher called her
she never came back to school
one day when he switched her
for nothing,
what the prettier girls were doing anyway.
Whore
that’s what he called her,
when he dragged her to her papa’s barn
and she said no
when he tried to hitch her skirts
Bitter Little Thing
that’s what her sister told her
when one told the other he wasn’t good enough
one was dark haired
one light, like honey
one was sweet, and the other
never wanted marriage
That One
what they called her in the next town over,
till she left
Demoness
what they called her in that town by the seaside,
till sea raiders struck and her gun saved more women
from rape than any of their husbands did
Ma’am
after that pirate night, the townsfolk said this
to her face, but
Demoness
behind her back, whispered with fear
as if she might hear.
she did, but deception rankled her more
Boy
that’s what they called her
with her short hair and breeches
on that ship she hired onto
the one that was attacked, later,
too much later for it to be her fault,
somewhere off the coast of Florida
Prisoner
she was one of them, till
they found out she was useless for ransom,
with hardly a name
she told them she had escaped to sea
and had no reason not to join.
truth or not, they swore her on.
Scurvy Dog
the Cap’n of the pirates called her this, along with everyone.
anyone who wasn’t swabbing the deck,
or tying those knots
nearly fast enough
or if they were
Mutinous Bitch
after she rallied the Scurvy Dogs
and took control of the ship,
but before she had him walk the plank,
that’s what the Cap’n called her,
and seamen never learn to swim.
they hadn’t realized she was female
and once they did, they tried to revolt again
That Damn Bitch
that’s what they whispered
behind her back, or
grumbled, when she gave them fifteen lashes
for saying it to her face
The Sea Ogress
the merchant vessels reported she left no one alive
ground their bones to make her bread
they said she was a witch,
and enchanted her sailors to follow a woman
Pirate Queen
this is how they remembered her
once she was killed
in battle. no one said she ever ran away
not even her enemies,
nor the one who killed her
Princess of Thieves
that was her name, in the ballads
and stories
the poems of romance
where she became beautiful,
though strong was what she’d always been
where the cruel, hard life of a pirate
became the stuff of fables
-Carlin
I absolutely LOVE criticism. If there are any awkward lines, or a stanza that just has something *wrong* with it, please tell me. I'd love to improve, not just have people cringe-ingly tell me I'm amazing. Thanks for reading!
