TREASURE

TREASURE

By Frances Harris

Rows of wooden houses and a string of brilliant lights,

Shows the way for strangers to the master’s country house,

Just a strip of yellow, then the door is closed,

Piles of glowing embers sitting in the hearth,

Someone fills a tankard with some strong brown ale,

Merriment and laughter fills the living room,

Seven chairs a table and a crystal vase,

Madam sits beside them and she lifts her glass,

Talk of ships and bullion can be heard inside,

The master drags a casket from beneath the floor,

When he takes the lid off to the men’s delight,

Ruddy faces marvel at a jewelled knife,

A shimmer on the water, in the bleak moon light,

Moving shards of lightning dart across the sky,

Moored beside a pylon is the master’s ship,

Many hands are ready to secure the ropes,

Rows of crashing waves are rushing to the shore,

Spraying over decks and drenching all on board,

Someone sounds a horn that finds the Master's ear,

Swiftly he is out there with his band of four,

Navies haul the ladder when they’re all on board,

The Master takes the wheel and steers them far from there,

Hoping that he’ll find a deeper place to sail,

Searching for a harbour in the pouring rain,

Sailors start to moan and claim that all is lost,

The master holds on grimly hoping for the best,

Someone sees the lighthouse and declares straight left,

Just around the corner is a quiet place,

Dead man’s hand they call it, but their only chance,

No one knows what happened to that fateful ship,

Madam went to see the place the ship last sailed,

Now the pirates treasure surely won’t be found,

Sitting with her basket and a crimson rose,

A rough and ready sailor but she loved him so,

Now she has to leave him to a fate unknown

Throws the flower skyward, with her wedding band.