For days I sat starin' at my empty space, fog keepin' vigil with me as I were wrapped in the cold comfort of despair. I'd saved but my own hide, let my mates drown and every slap of water on wood were a whisper. A raspin' lure invitin' me to join. To tie myself up heavy and leap into the shimmerin' blue of a mornin' too gray.
And while I couldn't muster the courage to listen, I weren't keen to leave my loathin' either. Not for less than it took to grab another bottle of wine or relieve myself and even then I didn't always bother to get up.
So while I noticed the grizzlies board, I didn't move to stop em, didn't care when I heard them stealin' what all were left of value neither. Which was what they'd come for, of course. Pirates on a small boat are still pirates.
I was an afterthought and likely woulda gone unnoticed were it not for the singin'.
Dreary shanties were a hobby of mine, to write and sing and I'd brought the men to tears more than once when mournin' a lost soul or just... havin' one a them days what refuses to color right. And a dreary shanty is what I broke into as they hauled the last of our fresh water off the side.
A song for the men what I'd let die.
Now, some men blackout from too much drink, and claim a lack of memory for their actions, relyin' on the booze to cover any wrong doin' or embarrassment.
I were never one of these men. Nothin' went unforgotten.
Like I haven't forgotten fallin' on my face to escape meaty paws or watchin' men too big stumble and slide to keep up as I scrabbled round the wet deck or up into a mess a rope while slurrin' insults what made no sense.
I threw bottles and debris and tried beggin' em to let me have my pain or grant me death but they weren't listenin'.
When one finally got me by my scruff I'd lost the last of my energy to fight.
But not to snark.
Do we like phone words? I is writin' in my phone again for some absurd reason.
#beneaththebrine