Twas a brisk morning, walking the decks of the Agamemnon - salt-slicked boards creaking underfoot as the sun peaked over the horizon. I was making my usual preparations to get underway - douse the lamps, grab some wood, and where did I put that Banana?........everything was ship-shape and Bristol fashion when a glint caught my eye....
Just there, a few points to starboard off the capstan, something caught the dawn and telegraphed its presence with an unmistakable glitter - thar be loot in these waters! An unusual morn to be sure, so I took a dip in the water and to my surprise, came face to face with the Log book of the good ship Warmaker's Woe. It was only then I also spotted other things afloat - an ammunition chest, and a chicken....in a crate. Clearly the ship met with a dubious fate, leaving naught but a chicken and a book, and so....my Ode to the Warmaker's Woe:
Oh Warmakers Woe, you sailed the sea,
triumphant over wave and rock,
Your mast stood tall, your hull iron-clad,
yet your stuff is all over this dock.
Mighty were ye, so says the log,
with days at sea aplenty,
Your coffers were full and adventures to boot
and ships sighted, I read over twenty
Yet disaster waited in this ill-fated port
though your cannon barked and thundered,
by some means you were overcome,
your neat stuff stolen, and plundered.
What befell you fine ship, we'll never know,
by what means were you defeated and stricken?
did you fight to the last, or run away fast?
because all at remains is this book, and a chicken.
I left the log on the dock, and sold the chicken.
