Tag Archives: pirates

RHL, ‘R.I.P. the English Girl in the Bahamas’

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There was a young girl who married a pirate
They boarded a ship called La Mouette.
They had a ship’s cat and also a parrot –
Well, if not a parrot, a noisy old rooster –
And a couple of cabin-boys who called her Mum –
And a sea-dog of course, or at least they used to.
They dressed up in finery, drank lots of rum…
They sailed ever sunwards, and they’re sailing yet.

*****

People who move to the Bahamas are an odd and interesting bunch, which is fine because it’s an odd and interesting country… but then, so is everyone, everywhere. Anyway, this particular lady (or one somewhat similar in some ways) and her family lived across the street from me, growing up.

This poem was first published in Snakeskin‘s recent edition of short poems.

“Pirate family” by Graham Ó Síodhacháin is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Vadim Kagan, ‘I Have Never’

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I have never in my lives
Met a girl named Arabella –
Captain Blood, the lucky fella,
Took them all to be his wives.

I have never been reborn
As a pirate quartermaster –
Long John Silver, lucky bastard,
Shouldered me aside with scorn.

I had never – strange but true –
Had a chance to rape and pillage;
Takes a crew to burn a village,
Takes much gold to get that crew.

So for now let’s all enjoy
Cold and wet northeastern snow,
How and why – we’ll never know…
Yahrr, my mates, and chips ahoy.

*****

Vadim Kagan writes: “We were visiting BVI, and I had this wonderful morning ritual – walking along the beach to the coffee shop, and then dragging a beack chair to the water so that my feet were in the surf… and coming up with a poem or two watching the sun rise and the clouds change colors. Since childhood I’ve been a huge fan of Rafael Sabatini’s “Captain Blood” novels, so the first two lines just happened, and then the rest kinda followed. I think back home the forecast called for snow that day, so the contrast was again already there for me to make use of.”

Vadim Kagan writes poetry and prose in English and Russian.  Vadim’s poems, bringing together traditions of Russian and English metered verse, have been put to music and performed by local and international artists. His poems have been published in The Lyric, Founders Favorites, The Road Not Taken,  the Lost Love chapbook and recently in the Maryland Bards Poetry Review 2025. Vadim lives in Bethesda, MD, where he runs an AI company providing advanced technology capabilities to Fortune 500 companies and government agencies.

‘I Have Never’ was first published on Vadim Kagan’s Facebook page, where you can find more of his work.

“RAYMOND, Alex. ‘Captain Blood’, 1935.” by Halloween HJB is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.