JASERACK

JASERACK

Chapter 2

ROCKS AND SHOALS

With a pull on his tankard
Of rum if you please
That would have brought
A lesser man to his knees,
He continued on
Through night coming dawn
With his captivating tale of the sea.

There were winds and storms
And dark clouds in forms
Of ships and castles on high,
Squalls that beat us
And some that retreat us
And some made us think we could fly.

Then slowly by day
The cold came to stay.
The lamps were lit to keep warm.
The mates and the captain
Ate their food in their cabin
And the crew got weathered and torn.

To the third mate fell the task
To see to the mast
And that the sails and course were true,
To manage the men
With a whip now and then
8ut all was not good with the crew.

The salt pork was low
And through a hard blow
Some beans and flour were spoiled.
So the mate cut the rations
Which touched off the passions
Of surly deck hands who toiled.

Now the snow at sea
Outlasted me
And some men were frozen aloft.
Their fingers and thumbs
All blue and numb
And half of the crew had a cough.

It broke out at night,
A hell of a fight.
In the ice and the blood on deck,
Twas the third mate that died
And I must confide,
He's a better man now, by heck.

With pistols Mister Drake
Held mast, a mistake,
For the crew was in a murderous mood.
They were willing to die
And curse to the sky
Or start and finish a feud.

Whaler saved the day
In his own special way
When he shouted and motioned ahead.
"There she blows, shipmates!
Now which of you hates
To have fresh meat with your bread?"

The first mate gave orders
For whale boat to quarters
And the second mate grabbed his harpoon.
The whales that I saw
Put me quite in awe
At the way they could roll and swoon.

Amazed at the speed
At which tensions recede,
I joined to watch the event.
Though not a ship,
That hunts whales each trip,
We accepted that which the sea sent.

After two hours passed...
We had a small whale at last,
Which we butchered from boats in the sea.
Enough meat for months
So we stored it in chunks
On the deck, just so it would freeze.

The whale steaks that night
Were a gourmet's delight
And the first mate ordered rum all around.
This seemed a cue
To settle the crew...
It worked to calm them down.

As the crew finished up
The first mate raised his cup
And asked them all for silence.
"Who's the man by the way,
Killed the mate yesterday?

Who's the one who resorted to violence?"

One seaman stood.
"For the ship and the good,
It was I who killed the third mate.
For the arms I was chosen
Though fingers frozen.
He laughed and said it was fate,"

"If I could give back his life
To his daughter and wife,
I'd do so to make my amends,
I regret my act now
and say with a vow.
I'll never do it again!"

“You have my faith, seaman.
I know you're not scheming,
But a vow is just not enough.
I'm sorry to say
That this is your day
To pay for playing so rough."

With that amen
He drew pistol again
And shot to the seaman's temple.
"It's times like these
It's best to not tease.
Just be done and keep it simple."

"There's gold to be had
By each man and lad
Who will serve this ship as he should.
And for those who decline
This pistol of mine
Will silence their notions for good!"

He returned pistol to belt
Without fear or guilt
And drank down the rest of his rum.
He then turned and retired
From the crew he'd inspired
With the business end of his gun.

The crew had stopped joking
And with not a word spoken,
They gathered their shipmate in a sheet.
Then out of respect
Took him to main deck
And let him slide to the deep.

There were hard feelings now
And a vengeance somehow
That the crew could not set aside.
It was more likely than not
The feeling they got
For the way their shipmate had died.

The first mate didn't care
Whether hate or despair
Was what now spurred on the swabs.
His love and devotion
Were to forward motion
And he never once spared the rod.

The next day through winds
That burned men's skins
Saw the captain long last at the wheel.
Searching the seas
For old memories,
Like a convict returning to steal.

He had his collar turned high
And to shade his eyes
His Captain's hat pulled down.
Still, those on deck
Kept a close check
On the man whose skin was so brown.

The second mate whaler
Was now the ship's sailor
As the third mate had met his reward.
And I was reporting
To the cook who was courting
A bottle from most every port.

I thought we must be
Very close in the sea
To our journey's destination.
"Icebergs ahead!"
Called the masthead
And then came the white conflagration.

Onward for days
With countless delays
To maneuver our ship through the ice.
The only good cheer,
The weather was clear

But still an expensive price.

"Another drink if you please,"
Said Jack as he sneezed
and wiped his nose with his thumb.
"A tankard of ale?"
All the listeners grew pale.
"Hell no! A full tankard of rum!"

"Go on Jack,
Or I’ll have an attack,
What happened then? Did you sink?"
"Yes, get on with it Jack,"
Cried the rest of the pack.
"Somebody pay for his drink!"

Robert E Browne

More Poems By Robert

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