Arr. AArk!
Black-winged gulls are flying high
Like pirate sails in an ocean sky.
Their ship, on fresh waves, dips and dives,
The bow bird pirates keeping time.
They sail in windborne silence while
They scan the seas with piercing eyes:
One spies a likely treasure pile—
She swoops! The crew all falls in line …
They charge! the shallows, then they rise
Laden with pillage and victory cries,
Their sky ship waits, all blue, on high—
They board, some straggle up the sides,
They screech!––set sail, and as they ride
They sing their crimes with whooped delight.
With whooped delight, their big ship glides,
Far from the rising pillaged tide.
Steal away on into the night,
You fierce, seafaring birds of flight.
Like pirate sails in an ocean sky.
Their ship, on fresh waves, dips and dives,
The bow bird pirates keeping time.
They sail in windborne silence while
They scan the seas with piercing eyes:
One spies a likely treasure pile—
She swoops! The crew all falls in line …
They charge! the shallows, then they rise
Laden with pillage and victory cries,
Their sky ship waits, all blue, on high—
They board, some straggle up the sides,
They screech!––set sail, and as they ride
They sing their crimes with whooped delight.
With whooped delight, their big ship glides,
Far from the rising pillaged tide.
Steal away on into the night,
You fierce, seafaring birds of flight.
This poem is copyright (©) Linda Kohler 2024
About the Writer
Linda Kohler
Linda lives in South Australia on Kaurna land. Her writing appears in Bracken Magazine, Balloons Lit. Journal, Highlights Hello, The School Magazine, the Wakefield Press poetry anthology, Tadpoles in the Torrens (& Teachers' Edition), and elsewhere. She is a mother and former teacher who likes cacao, words and birds.